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Myco-surface model for Fusarium solani growth and non-thermal plasma decontamination on building materials
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  • Published: 11 February 2026

Myco-surface model for Fusarium solani growth and non-thermal plasma decontamination on building materials

  • Eliška Lokajová1,
  • Jana Jirešová1,
  • Kamila Zdeňková2,
  • Myron Klenivskyi1,
  • Petra Tichá3,
  • Mária Domonkos3,
  • Zuzana Rácová1 &
  • …
  • Vladimír Scholtz1 

Scientific Reports , Article number:  (2026) Cite this article

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We are providing an unedited version of this manuscript to give early access to its findings. Before final publication, the manuscript will undergo further editing. Please note there may be errors present which affect the content, and all legal disclaimers apply.

Subjects

  • Engineering
  • Materials science

Abstract

Controlling fungal growth on building materials is essential for preserving indoor air quality and structural integrity. This study aims to (i) adapt the Myco-surface growth model for Fusarium solani colonization on plasterboard and wood fiberboard, and (ii) evaluate the antifungal efficacy of non-thermal plasma (NTP) treatments on these substrates. Fungal growth was monitored over a temperature range of 5–40 °C and modeled using the sigmoid-based Myco-surface model. Two NTP sources, a high-power diffuse coplanar surface barrier discharge (DCSBD) and a low-power negative corona discharge, were applied at various stages of fungal development. The Myco-surface model successfully captured the growth dynamics on both materials, with plasterboard supporting faster colonization than fiberboard. NTP treatments significantly inhibited fungal growth: the DCSBD source achieved complete inhibition on fiberboard, while the corona discharge had partial efficacy. These findings confirm the predictive capability of the Myco-surface model on complex building substrates and highlight NTP as a promising, non-destructive technology for fungal control in construction materials.

Data availability

The datasets used and/or analysed during the current study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.

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Acknowledgements

Thanks to Dana Savická for providing microbial cultures from the microbiological collection of the Department of Microbiology and Biochemistry (DBM), UCT Prague.

Funding

The authors would like to acknowledge the funding by the Grant Agency of the Czech Republic 22–06621 S.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Chemical Engineering, University of Chemistry and Technology, Technická 5, 166 28, Prague, Czech Republic

    Eliška Lokajová, Jana Jirešová, Myron Klenivskyi, Zuzana Rácová & Vladimír Scholtz

  2. Faculty of Food and Biochemical Technology, University of Chemistry and Technology, Technická 5, 166 28, Prague, Czech Republic

    Kamila Zdeňková

  3. Faculty of Civil Engineering, Czech Technical University in Prague, Thákurova 2077/7, 166 29, Prague, Czech Republic

    Petra Tichá & Mária Domonkos

Authors
  1. Eliška Lokajová
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Contributions

Eliška Lokajová (E.L., Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing), Jana Jirešová (J.J., Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing), Kamila Zdeňková (K.Z., Conceptualization, Data curation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Methodology, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing), Myron Klenivskyi (M.K., Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft, Writing – review & editing), Petra Tichá (P.T., Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology), Mária Domonkos (M.D., Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology), Zuzana Rácová (Z.R., Data curation, Formal analysis, Methodology, Writing – review & editing) and Vladimír Scholtz (V.S., Conceptualization, Data curation, Funding acquisition, Investigation, Project administration, Supervision, Validation, Writing – review & editing).

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Kamila Zdeňková.

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Lokajová, E., Jirešová, J., Zdeňková, K. et al. Myco-surface model for Fusarium solani growth and non-thermal plasma decontamination on building materials. Sci Rep (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38339-4

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  • Received: 03 July 2025

  • Accepted: 29 January 2026

  • Published: 11 February 2026

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-026-38339-4

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Keywords

  • Fusarium solani
  • Plasterboard
  • Wood fiberboard
  • Growth modeling
  • Non-thermal plasma
  • Cold air plasma
  • Inhibition of mold growth
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