Water-Assisted Adhesion and Reconfigurability of Mushroom-Derived Papers for Sustainable Materials Engineering.

Abstract

Chitin-rich mushroom-derived papers (MPs), processed from <i>Agaricus bisporus</i> pulps, offer a biobased route to sustainable materials. This work advances sustainable materials design by utilizing a renewable fungal feedstock, employing an additive-free aqueous pulping process, and enabling reconfiguration and reuse through reversible water-mediated bonding. MPs exhibit reversible and repeatable water-assisted reconfigurability and adhesion properties, enabled by both physical entanglement of mushroom-derived paper pulps (MPPs) and extensive hydrogen bonding and intermolecular interactions. Remarkably, these MPs demonstrate a high tensile strength of up to 14.94 ± 1.35 N/mm² and an adhesion strength of up to 0.72 ± 0.13 N/mm², with the repaired MPs retaining ∼70% of their original tensile strength. Proof-of-concept demonstrations showed the possible origami-like construction and multicycle reuse of MPs. These findings highlight MPs as reconfigurable and reusable paper-like materials, extending their lifecycle and reducing resource demand, thereby advancing sustainable materials engineering.