Electrospinning Poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) Nanofiber Mats with Mushroom Mycelium Powder

Electrospinning is a technique to produce nanofiber mats for diverse applications. In biomedicine in particular, the addition of an antibacterial agent can be advantageous. Here, we report on the needleless electrospinning of nanofiber mats using poly(acrylonitrile) (PAN) blended with different mushroom mycelium powders, which have antibacterial and other functional properties. While PAN blended with Pleurotus ostreatus (oyster mushroom) powder could be electrospun well, PAN blended with Ganoderma lucidum (reishi mushroom) powder was nearly impossible to spin. The PAN/P. ostreatus nanofiber mats showed a morphology after electrospinning similiar to pure PAN; however, the carbon yield was lower. This indicates the possibility of embedding P. ostreatus powder in PAN nanofiber mats for biotechnological or biomedical applications.