Method for producing a composite material

1 . A method for producing a composite material comprising the steps of

providing a substrate of a raw material composed of discrete particles of an agricultural byproduct;

adding a plant essential oil emulsion to said substrate in an amount and for a time sufficient to effectively inhibit microbial growth on said substrate and to form a mixture therewith;

thereafter adding an inoculum including a preselected fungus to said mixture; and

allowing the fungus to grow hyphae and to allow the hyphae to form a network of interconnected mycelia cells through and around the discrete particles thereby bonding the discrete particles together to form a self-supporting composite material.

2 . A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said raw material is a ligninocellulosic material.

3 . A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said raw material is a cellulosic waste.

4 . A method as set forth in claim 3 wherein said raw material is cotton gin waste.

5 . A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein said emulsion is at least one of a phenol emulsion and an aldehyde emulsion,

6 . A method as set forth in claim 1 wherein at least a portion of said emulsion is removed from said mixture of raw material and emulsion prior to inoculation with said fungus.

7 . A method as set forth in claim 1 , wherein said preselected fungus is a white rot decomposer selected from the families Polyporaceae and Ganodermataceae and the order of Aphyllophorales.

8 . A method as set forth in claim 7 wherein said preselected fungus is a white rot basidiomycetes.

9 . A method as set forth in claim 7 -wherein said preselected fungus is selected from the group consisting of Ganoderma resinaceum, Fomes fomentarius, Ganoderma lucidum and Ganoderma brownii.

10 . A method as set forth in claim 1 further comprising the step of de-volatizing the substrate of any remaining emulsion prior to said step of adding the inoculum.

11 . A method for producing a composite material comprising the steps of providing a substrate of a raw material composed of discrete particles of an agricultural byproduct;

adding a plant essential oil emulsion to said substrate in an amount and for a time sufficient to effectively inhibit microbial growth on said substrate;

thereafter removing the emulsion from said substrate;

thereafter adding an inoculum including a preselected fungus to said substrate; and

allowing the fungus to grow hyphae and to allow the hyphae to form a network of interconnected mycelia cells through and around the discrete particles of said substrate thereby bonding the discrete particles together to form a self-supporting composite material.

12 . A method as set forth in claim 11 said substrate is subjected to a devolitization step to remove a residual amount of plant essential oil of said emulsion from said substrate prior to said step of adding said inoculum.

13 . A method for producing a composite material comprising the steps of providing a substrate of a raw material composed of discrete particles of an agricultural byproduct;

thereafter adding an inoculum including a preselected fungus to said substrate;

allowing the fungus to grow hyphae and to allow the hyphae to form a network of interconnected mycelia cells through and around the discrete particles of said substrate thereby bonding the discrete particles together to form a self-supporting composite material; and

thereafter applying a plant essential oil emulsion to said self-supporting material in an amount and for a time sufficient to effectively inhibit microbial growth on said self-supporting composite material.

14 . In a method for producing a composite material, the steps of

providing a substrate of a raw material composed of discrete particles of an agricultural byproduct;

adding a plant essential oil emulsion to said substrate in an amount and for a time sufficient to effectively inhibit microbial growth on said substrate;

thereafter adding an inoculum including a preselected fungus to said substrate; and

incubating the inoculated substrate for a time sufficient to allow the fungus to grow hyphae to form a network of interconnected mycelia cells through and around the discrete particles.

15 . In the method of claim 14 the' further step of removing said emulsion from said substrate prior to said step of adding said inoculum to said substrate.

16 . In the method of claim 15 wherein the further step of removing a residual amount of plant essential oil of said emulsion from said substrate by devolitization.

17 . In the method of claim 13 the further step of placing said substrate in a sealed condition after said emulsion and said inoculum are added to said substrate and prior to said step of incubating the inoculated substrate.