Omnic operating system

The density of the biofoam was determined by measuring the nal weight and volume accomplished by using an electronic balance and a calliper. A JSM-6390LV (JEOL, USA) scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine the surface morphology of the mycelium biofoam. The sample was sputtercoated with a thin layer of gold to avoid electrostatic charging during the examination with an accelerating 10-15 kV voltage. Different types of functional groups in the sample were identi ed using the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer model Nicolet IS5 (Thermo Fisher Scienti c, USA). A small amount of sample was then placed on top of the sample holder made from zinc selenide (ZnSe) crystal. The related functional groups present in the absorbents were further identi ed using the OMNIC operating system (Version 7.0, Thermo Nicolet). The experiment was carried out over spectral range, varying from 4000 to 400cm -1 . Finally, a compression test was conducted using the Zwick Roell Z020 testing machine to identify the mechanical behaviour of the mycelium based biofoam. The pre-load was set at 5N with a rate of 10 mm/min and was stopped when it reached 50% deformation.

The density of the biofoam was determined by measuring the nal weight and volume accomplished by using an electronic balance and a calliper. A JSM-6390LV (JEOL, USA) scanning electron microscope (SEM) was used to examine the surface morphology of the mycelium biofoam. The sample was sputtercoated with a thin layer of gold to avoid electrostatic charging during the examination with an accelerating 10-15 kV voltage. Different types of functional groups in the sample were identi ed using the Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrophotometer model Nicolet IS5 (Thermo Fisher Scienti c, USA). A small amount of sample was then placed on top of the sample holder made from zinc selenide (ZnSe) crystal. The related functional groups present in the absorbents were further identi ed using the OMNIC operating system (Version 7.0, Thermo Nicolet). The experiment was carried out over spectral range, varying from 4000 to 400cm -1 . Finally, a compression test was conducted using the Zwick Roell Z020 testing machine to identify the mechanical behaviour of the mycelium based biofoam. The pre-load was set at 5N with a rate of 10 mm/min and was stopped when it reached 50% deformation.