This project combines nonwoven technology, biological technology and food waste management and seeks for this feasibility to use fungal microfiber (FM) as a binder for lyocell pro-duction and the characterizations for possible applications. Rhizopus delemar was cultivated apple pomace in liquid-state fermentation to obtain mycelia biomass. The biomass was later blended in a kitchen blender for one minute. The blended FM was later mixed with 6 mm lyocell fibre at different FM dry weight percentage and water to make nonwoven webs by wet-laid method. The feasibility of using fungal microfiber as a binder for lyocell nonwovens was confirmed in this study. It is not possible to make nonwoven webs using lyocell short fibre without any binder applied. With 5%_FM, the tensile strength of lyocell nonwoven webs reached 0.0989 MPa. A clear increasing tensile strength was recorded as the increasing of FM weight per-centage and resulted a highest tensile strength at 9.38 MPa when applying 60%_FM. The re-sult of water contact angle proved that the increasing FM could decrease the hydrophobicity of nonwoven samples. Abrasion test showed that FM could improve the abrasion resistance of the lyocell nonwoven samples. Porosity test showed that lyocell nonwoven samples with a higher FM ended up with smaller mean flow pore size diameter (MFP) that nonwoven samples with 65%_FM has an average MFP at 7.26 m m. The SEM images reviled that FM bonded nonwoven webs had a fibrous structure, which is due to binding effect of fungal microfiber on lyocell short fibers. These characterizations have demonstrated the mechanism of using fungal microfiber as a binder for lyocell nonwovens in this project. In this thesis project, FM bonded lyocell nonwoven webs showed a great potential on the application of nonwoven applications such as interior materials or filtration materials.

Unsold bread makes up a signification fraction of waste occurring in Swedish supermarkets. This thesis seeks to address the problem of food waste, by cultivating filamentous fungi on bread waste and producing chitinous films and nonwovens from them. Rhizopus delemar was cultivated on bread waste in liquid-state fermentation in order to obtain mycelia biomass. The biomass was processed by alkali or protease treatments to disrupt the fungal cells and remove proteins and fats. Afterwards it was subjected to a bleaching treatment to remove lignin fractions of bread residues. The treated biomass was then subjected to a grinding treatment for a homogeneous dispersion of mycelial fibers, where the dispersion was confirmed by microscopic images. The chemically and mechanically processed biomass was used for the preparation of films and nonwoven composites by employing a wet-laid papermaking process. The films exhibited plastic-like features, due to their brittleness and their smooth upper surface. Films and nonwoven composites were characterized on their tensile properties, surface water contact angle and their surface morphology by scanning electron microscopy. Treating fungal biomass by alkali and then bleaching resulted in films with atensile modulus of 3.38 GPa and an ultimate tensile strength of 71.50 MPa. These are the highest reported tensile properties for mycelia derived films to date. Water contact angle measurements confirmed a hydrophobic quality of mycelial films. Scanning electron microscopy showed a very dense and even surface without an obvious fibrous morphology. Fungal biomass and viscose fibers together form a rigid nonwoven composite, in which fungal biomass takes over the role of a natural eco-friendly binding matrix. Flexural rigidity measurements were out of bounds and need to be confirmed by future studies. Additionally, a second strain of fungi, Fusarium venenatum, was cultivated on bread particles in water suspension in order to determine optimum growth conditions for future scale-up investigations.