There is an increasing demand for animal-free, eco-friendly alternative vegan leather. The leather-like vegan materials from multiple plant sources, such as mango, pineapple and mushroom based materials are promising. However, the commercialization and the growth of sustainable vegan leather production is hampered significantly by the difficulty of achieving the needed quality for the various consumer products as well as the high prices of the vegan alternatives.
In this project two SMEs, BioscienZ and B4Plastics, will combine forces with Avans University of Applied Sciences to develop vegan leather from the mushroom based material called mycelium that will have comparable material characteristics to animal leather and is competitive in price.
Goal of internship:
Preparation and characterization of mycelium-derived Leather-like material
Activities:
The Project involves:
Preparation of mycelium-derived Leather-like material- Characterize the mechanical properties of the material (tensile, flexural, impact tests);
- Characterize the thermal properties of the composites (TGA, DSC)
Reference:
Jones, Mitchell, et al. “Leather-like material biofabrication using fungi.” Nature Sustainability (2020): 1-8.
Starting date
February 2021. The length of the assignment is 5 months. The student who will execute the assignment gets a fee of €350,- per month.
Desirable skills/qualities of the student
The student should be able to carry out independent laboratory research. The interest in biocomposite is a pre.
Contactperson: Han van Kasteren