Potential for fungal dyes as colorants in oil and acrylic paints

Potential applications for colorants derived from the spalting fungi Chlorociboria aeruginascens, Chlorociboria aeruginosa, Scytalidium cuboideum, and Scytalidium ganodermophthorum are of growing interest across a variety of fields, from wood and textile dyes, to solar cells. Previous research found that these dyes could be carried in natural oils, specifically raw linseed oil, instead of organic solvents, thereby eliminating the toxicity issues surrounding such carriers. In this work, dyes from the aforementioned fungi were extracted, carried in raw linseed oil, and mixed with a range of oil and acrylic paints to determine if the oil carrier was appropriate for delivering the dyes into a paint matrix. The oil-based dyes did not mix evenly with the acrylic paints; however, the acrylic paints maintained the color of the dyes. In contrast, the oil-based paints mixed well with the dyes, but the dyes decolorized (completely lost color) due to the presence of refined linseed oil in the paint base. Artists’ paints do not appear to be compatible with fungal dyes when carried in oil; however, there are still many potential applications for the oil-based dyes, such as wood and textile dyeing.