Mechanically Tunable, Compostable, Healable and Scalable Engineered Living Materials.
basic_science · Level V
Where this comes from
- Record sourced from PubMed, PMID 39532836.
- Also identified by DOI 10.1038/s41467-024-53052-4 and PMC identifier 11557937.
- Licence recorded as CC BY.
- The licence permits redistribution, so the abstract is shown in full and the full text is available from the publisher.
Abstract
Advanced design strategies are essential to realize the full potential of engineered living materials, including their biodegradability, manufacturability, sustainability, and ability to tailor functional properties. Toward these goals, we present mechanically engineered living material with compostability, healability, and scalability - a material that integrates these features in the form of a stretchable plastic that is simultaneously flushable, compostable, and exhibits the characteristics of paper. This plastic/paper-like material is produced in scalable quantities (0.5-1 g L<sup>-1</sup>), directly from cultured bacterial biomass (40%) containing engineered curli protein nanofibers. The elongation at break (1-160%) and Young's modulus (6-450 MPa) is tuned to more than two orders of magnitude. By genetically encoded covalent crosslinking of curli nanofibers, we increase the Young's modulus by two times. The designed engineered living materials biodegrade completely in 15-75 days, while its mechanical properties are comparable to petrochemical plastics and thus may find use as compostable materials for primary packaging.
Medical subject headings
- Nanofibers