Traditional processing of lignocellulosics into pulp and paper products is energy and chemical intensive and commonly based on high-quality biomass such as wood. Biopulping using fungal delignification through colonisation with white rot fungi poses one sustainable alternative to the extensive use of chemicals. Furthermore, utilizing herbivore manure as raw material outsources the collection and disintegration of plant biomass into fibres to the animal and their digestive system and can thus significantly reduce the energy requirement for harvesting plant biomass. Manure as substrate and fungal growth for delignification in a traditional bio-pulping process constitutes a sustainable pathway for the removal of lignin from plant biomass for the production of paper pulp. Elephant manure was used as a model system for animal manure for its high content of lignocellulosic fibres of about 70 wt% serving as substrate for the growth of P. ostreatus and T. versicolor. By extraction and hot-pressing of the microscale lignocellulosic fibres together with nanoscale fungal biopolymers, hierarchical composite papers with comparable mechanical properties and more hydrophobic surface characteristics than common paper were manufactured. We show that the benefits of utilizing P. ostreatus and T. versicolor fungal growth stretch well beyond delignification to the hybridization of animal waste derived lignocellulosic fibres with β-chitin glucan complex. Furthermore, this study highlights the missed opportunities in traditional delignification-based bioprocessing and the value of manure as sustainable resource for pulp and paper products.

Grow it yourself composite: Delignification and hybridisation of herbivore manure using fungal growth

ACS Spring 2022

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