{"id":97076,"date":"2021-07-14T07:22:00","date_gmt":"2021-07-14T05:22:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/?p=97076"},"modified":"2021-09-10T14:20:27","modified_gmt":"2021-09-10T12:20:27","slug":"an-alternative-for-leather-and-synthetic-leather-vtt-succeeded-in-demonstrating-continuous-production-of-mycelium-leather","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/renewable-carbon.eu\/news\/an-alternative-for-leather-and-synthetic-leather-vtt-succeeded-in-demonstrating-continuous-production-of-mycelium-leather\/","title":{"rendered":"An alternative for leather and synthetic leather: VTT succeeded in demonstrating continuous production of mycelium leather"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

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Leather and synthetic leather production have a large negative environmental impact due to resource-intensive processes and hazardous chemicals used during production. VTT\u2019s research team demonstrated that VTT\u2019s technology enables the continuous manufacturing of mycelium leather sheets by the meter. The approach is applicable to industrial roll-to-roll production. The first product applications for the material could be accessories, footwear, and garments, for example.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe material has a leathery look and feel and can be as strong as animal leather. It also offers the possibility to be colored and patterned, and it does not contain any backing or supporting materials,\u201d describes VTT\u2019s Senior Scientist\u00a0G\u00e9za Szilvay<\/strong>.

Fungal mycelium is a bio-based raw material that can be sustainably processed into leather-like materials. Until now, increasing the production volume with current methods has been challenging due to mycelium cultivation taking place in a planar two-dimensional form limited in size. \u201cOur process makes it possible to overcome these size limitations,\u201d says VTT\u2019s Research Scientist\u00a0Manuel Arias Barrantes<\/strong>.

VTT\u2019s patent-pending technology for producing mycelium leather alternative materials is based on growing mycelium in common bioreactors. The benefits of this approach are that liquid fermentation in bioreactors is easily scalable to commercial scales and similar fermentation technology is already widely used in the food, chemical, and pharma industries.\u00a0

The film-making process developed by VTT enables continuous mycelium leather alternative production using VTT\u2019s pilot equipment. The benefits of this manufacturing method are consistent quality, competitive production price, and reduced amounts of offcuts.

At the moment, the VTT team is exploring applications in the accessory, footwear, and garment segments. The researchers are now turning to improve tear strength and abrasion resistance by bio-based approaches.\u00a0

The work done at VTT will contribute to an accelerated availability of mycelium leather alternatives in the market.

Business Finland has funded the development work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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