Evaluation of Self-Healing Attribute of an Alkaliphilic Microbial Protein in Cementitious Mortars
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 34, Issue 5
Abstract
Unavoidable cracks cause a significant reduction in the strength and longevity of concrete. Water and several harmful ions seep through the cracks, initiate corrosion of the reinforcement, and affect the self-life of concrete. Self-repaired concrete will stand for a longer period and thus is gaining interest for constructions purposes. This work was an attempt to design a microbial protein (∼28 kDa) that incorporated self-healing cementitious material for future construction needs. The protein was isolated from an alkaliphilic hot spring bacterium (BKH4) of Bakreshwar, West Bengal, India. The prepared control and protein-amended cementitious mortar samples were subjected to simulate cracks and cured under water for several days. Images and microstructures of the control and protein-incorporated samples were analyzed, which established that there was a tiny fingers-like crystalline substance developed on the cracked surfaces. The developed substance was identified as a silicate phase (Gehlenite) by energy dispersive X-ray spectroscopic analysis. The microbial protein enhanced the mechanical strengths and durability of the protein-incorporated samples that were supported by the increments of ultrasonic pulse velocity, compressive strength, and sulfate resistance as well as reduction of water permeability and slow water movement (sorptivity test) of the experimental samples. This self-healing phenomenon is eco-efficient and developed due to the bio-silicification action of the microbial protein that was incorporated in mortar samples.
Get full access to this article
View all available purchase options and get full access to this article.
Data Availability Statement
All the data obtained from several experiments are included in the article.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to express deep gratitude to the Biophysics Laboratory of Physics Department, Jadavpur University, for their help in offering the resources in running the experiment. A Sarkar is also grateful to the Rajiv Gandhi National Fellowship (F1-17.1/2015-16/RGNF-2015-17-SC-WES-26731/(SA-III/Website) for her fellowship support.
References
ASTM. 1977. Test and evaluation of portland and blended cements for resistance to sulphate attack. ASTM STP663. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
ASTM. 2002. Standard test method for pulse velocity through concrete. ASTM C597-02. West Conshohocken, PA: ASTM.
Bang, S. S., J. K. Galinat, and V. Ramakrishnan. 2001. “Calcite precipitation induced by polyurethane-immobilized Bacillus pasteurii.” Enzyme Microb. Technol. 28 (4–5): 404–409. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0141-0229(00)00348-3.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard). 1988. Determination of compressive strength of hydraulic cement. IS 4031. New Delhi, India: BIS.
BIS (Bureau of Indian Standard). 1989. Specification for 43-grade ordinary portland cement. IS 8112. New Delhi, India: BIS.
Biswas, M., S. Majumdar, T. Chowdhury, B. Chattopadhyay, S. Mandal, U. Halder, and S. Yamasaki. 2010. “Bioremediase a unique protein from a novel bacterium BKH1, ushering a new hope in concrete technology.” Enzyme Microb. Technol. 46 (7): 581–587. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enzmictec.2010.03.005.
Chattopadhyay, B. 2020. “Genetically-enriched microbe-facilitated self-healing nano-concrete.” In Smart nanoconcretes and cement-based materials, 461–483. Amsterdam, Netherlands: Elsevier.
Chaudhuri, B., N. Alam, M. Sarkar, T. Chowdhury, and B. Chattopadhyay. 2016. “Phylogenetic characterization of BKH3 bacterium isolated from a hot spring consortium of Bakreshwar (India) and its application.” Adv. Microbiol. 6 (6): 453–461. https://doi.org/10.4236/aim.2016.66044.
Chowdhury, T., S. Sarkar, B. Chaudhuri, B. Chattopadhyay, and U. C. Halder. 2015. “Participatory role of zinc in structural and functional characterization of bioremediase: A unique thermostable microbial silica leaching protein.” J. Biol. Inorg. Chem. 20 (5): 791–803. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00775-015-1266-2.
De Muynck, W., D. Debrouwer, N. De Belie, and W. Verstraete. 2008. “Bacterial carbonate precipitation improves the durability of cementitious materials.” Cem. Concr. Res. 38 (7): 1005–1014. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2008.03.005.
Ghosh, P., S. Mandal, B. D. Chattopadhyay, and S. Pal. 2005. “Use of microorganisms to improve the strength of cement-mortar.” Cem. Concr. Res. 35 (10): 1980–1983. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconres.2005.03.005.
Ghosh, S., M. Biswas, B. D. Chattopadhyay, and S. Mandal. 2009. “Microbial activity on the microstructure of bacteria modified mortar.” Cem. Concr. Compos. 31 (2): 93–98. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2009.01.001.
Ghosh, S., B. D. Chattopadhyay, and S. Mandal. 2008. “Use of hot spring bacteria for remediation of cracks and increment of durability of structures.” Indian Concr. J. 82 (9): 11–16. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-34249-4_6.
Guthrie, G. D., Jr., R. J. Pawar, J. W. Carey, S. Karra, D. R. Harp, and H. S. Viswanathan. 2017. Hydrated ordinary portland cement as a carbonic cement: The mechanisms, dynamics, and implications of self-healing and resistance in wellbore cements. Los Alamos, NM: Los Alamos National Laboratory.
Guthrie, G. D., Jr., R. J. Pawar, J. W. Carey, S. Karra, D. R. Harp, and H. S. Viswanathan. 2018. “The mechanisms, dynamics, and implications of self-sealing and resistance in wellbore cements.” Int. J. Greenhouse Gas Control 75 (Aug): 162–179. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijggc.2018.04.006.
Han, B., L. Zhang, and J. Ou. 2017. “Self-healing concrete.” In Smart and multifunctional concrete toward sustainable infrastructures. Singapore: Springer.
Insaurralde, C. C., P. K. Rahman, M. Ramegowda, and C. M. Vemury. 2016. “Follow-up methods for autonomic repairing process.” In Proc., 2016 IEEE Int. Conf. on Systems, Man, and Cybernetics (SMC). New York: IEEE.
Jeong, J.-H., Y.-S. Jo, C.-S. Park, C.-H. Kang, and J.-S. So. 2017. “Biocementation of concrete pavements using microbially induced calcite precipitation.” J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 27 (7): 1331–1335. https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.1701.01041.
Jonkers, H. M. 2011. “Bacteria-based self-healing concrete.” Heron 56 (1): 1–12.
Kessler, M. R., N. R. Sottos, and S. R. White. 2003. “Self-healing structural composite materials.” Composites, Part A 34 (8): 743–753. https://doi.org/10.1016/S1359-835X(03)00138-6.
Kim, H. J., H. J. Eom, C. Park, J. Jung, B. Shin, W. Kim, N. Chung, I. G. Choi, and W. Park. 2016. “Calcium carbonate precipitation by Bacillus and Sporosarcina strains isolated from concrete and analysis of the bacterial community of concrete.” J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 26 (3): 540–548. https://doi.org/10.4014/jmb.1511.11008.
Majumdar, S., M. Sarkar, T. Chowdhury, B. Chattopadhyay, and S. Mandal. 2012. “Use of bacterial protein powder in commercial fly ash Pozzolana cements for high performance construction materials.” Open J. Civ. Eng. 2 (4): 218–228. https://doi.org/10.4236/ojce.2012.24029.
Mamo, G., and B. Mattiasson. 2019. Alkaliphiles: The emerging biological tools enhancing concrete durability, 1–50. New York: Springer.
Mondal, S., and A. D. Ghosh. 2018. “Investigation into the optimal bacterial concentration for compressive strength enhancement of microbial concrete.” Constr. Build. Mater. 183 (Sep): 202–214. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2018.06.176.
Neville, A. M. 1996. Properties of concrete. 4th ed. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Pearson Higher Education, Prentice Hall.
Ramachandran, S. K., V. Ramakrishnan, and S. S. Bang. 2001. “Remediation of concrete using microorganisms.” ACI Mater. J. 98 (1): 3–9. https://doi.org/10.14359/10154.
Ramakrishnan, V., R. K. Panchalan, S. S. Bang, and R. City. 2005. “Improvement of concrete durability by bacterial mineral precipitation.” In Vol. 11 of Proc., ICF. Vignate, Italy: ICF Company.
Rodriguez-Navarro, C., M. Rodriguez-Gallego, K. Ben Chekroun, and M. T. Gonzalez-Munoz. 2003. “Conservation of ornamental stone by Myxococcus xanthus-induced carbonate biomineralization.” Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 69 (4): 2182–2193. https://doi.org/10.1128/AEM.69.4.2182-2193.2003.
Sarkar, A., A. Chatterjee, S. Mandal, and B. Chattopadhyay. 2019. “Analkaliphilic bacterium BKH4 of Bakreshwar hot spring pertinent to bioconcrete technology.” J. Appl. Microbiol. 126 (6): 1742–1750. https://doi.org/10.1111/jam.14236.
Sarkar, M., N. Alam, B. Chaudhuri, B. Chattopadhyay, and S. Mandal. 2015. “Development of an improved E. coli bacterial strain for green and sustainable concrete technology.” RSC Adv. 5 (41): 32175–32182. https://doi.org/10.1039/C5RA02979A.
Sarkar, M., T. Chowdhury, B. Chattopadhyay, R. Gachhui, and S. Mandal. 2014. “Autonomous bioremediation of a microbial protein (bioremediase) in Pozzolana cementitious composite.” J. Mater. Sci. 49 (13): 4461–4468. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-014-8143-1.
Schlangen, E., and C. Joseph. 2009. “Self-healing process in concrete.” In Self-healing materials: Fundamentals, design strategies and applications, 141–198. Weinheim, Germany: Wiley-VCH.
Seifan, M., and A. Berenjian. 2018. “Application of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation in designing bio self-healing concrete.” World J. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 34 (11): 1–15. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11274-018-2552-2.
Seifan, M., A. K. Samani, and A. Berenjian. 2016. “Bioconcrete: Next generation of self-healing concrete.” Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 100 (6): 2591–2602. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-016-7316-z.
Tziviloglou, E., et al. 2016. “Bio-based self-healing concrete: From research to field application.” In Self-healing materials, (polymer, volume 273), advances in polymer science. Cham, Switzerland: Springer.
Ulrich, N., K. Nagler, M. Laue, C. S. Cockell, P. Setlow, and R. Moeller. 2018. “Experimental studies addressing the longevity of Bacillus subtilis spores—The first data from a 500-year experiment.” PLoS One 13 (12): e0208425. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0208425.
Vijay, K., and M. Murmu. 2019. “Self-repairing of concrete cracks by using bacteria and basalt fiber.” SN Appl. Sci. 1 (11): 1–10. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42452-019-1404-5.
Wang, J.-Y., N. De Belie, and W. Verstraete. 2012. “Diatomaceous earth as a protective vehicle for bacteria applied for self-healing concrete.” J. Ind. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 39 (4): 567–577. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10295-011-1037-1.
White, S. R., N. R. Sottos, P. H. Geubelle, J. S. Moore, M. R. Kessler, S. R. Sriram, E. N. Brown, and S. Viswanathan. 2001. “Autonomic healing of polymer composites.” Nature 409 (6822): 794–797. https://doi.org/10.1038/35057232.
Wiktor, V., and H. M. Jonkers. 2011. “Quantification of crack-healing in novel bacteria-based self-healing concrete.” Cem. Concr. Compos. 33 (7): 763–770. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cemconcomp.2011.03.012.
Xu, J., X. Wang, and B. Wang. 2018. “Biochemical process of ureolysis-based microbial precipitation and its application in self-healing concrete.” Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 102 (7): 3121–3132. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00253-018-8779-x.
Zamani, M., S. Nikafshar, A. Mousa, and A. Behnia. 2020. “Bacteria encapsulation using synthesized polyurea for self-healing of cement paste.” Constr. Build. Mater. 249 (Jul): 118556. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2020.118556.
Information & Authors
Information
Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 34 • Issue 5 • May 2022
Copyright
© 2022 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: May 22, 2021
Accepted: Sep 16, 2021
Published online: Feb 23, 2022
Published in print: May 1, 2022
Discussion open until: Jul 23, 2022
Authors
Metrics & Citations
Metrics
Citations
Download citation
If you have the appropriate software installed, you can download article citation data to the citation manager of your choice. Simply select your manager software from the list below and click Download.