A Binary Microorganism Self-Healing Agent for Concrete Cracks Comprising Bacillus pasteurii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae
Publication: Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36, Issue 3
Abstract
The use of microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) to self-repair concrete cracks has received extensive attention. The production of mineralization precipitates reflects the repair capability of the self-healing agents. However, using a single type of microorganism in the self-healing agent, such as Bacillus pasteurii, usually produces a low amount of mineralization products in the direction of crack depth; therefore, the cracks cannot be well repaired. In this work, a binary microorganism self-healing agent was developed, and its crack repair capability was investigated. In the binary microorganism system, Bacillus pasteurii and Saccharomyces cerevisiae were mixed at six mixing ratios, 10:0, 8:2, 6:4, 4:6, 2:8, and 0:10. The results show that the highest concentration of the microorganism cells, the highest weight of the mineralization precipitates, and the purest calcite crystals were produced when the mixing ratio was 6:4. Besides, after 28 days of repair, cracks in mortar specimens were repaired with the binary microorganism self-healing agent, with the mixing ratio of 6:4 showing the highest area percentage of repair (97.1%) and the strongest capability to repair deep cracks (9–12 mm from the specimen surface). The synergic mineralization mechanism is that Bacillus pasteurii plays a major role in the closure of the fractured surface, while Saccharomyces cerevisiae promotes the production of carbonate ions by decomposing glucose under oxygen-poor conditions, resulting in the formation of calcium carbonate precipitates and facilitating the repair of deep cracks where there is a lack of oxygen. This work provides a promising binary microorganism self-healing agent and an understanding of the mechanism involved in the mineralization process, and experimentally confirms its superior self-healing capability over the single-type microorganism system considering the repair depth.
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Data Availability Statement
Some or all data, models, or code that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request.
Acknowledgments
This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 52078321, 52178265, and 52178264).
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Published In
Journal of Materials in Civil Engineering
Volume 36 • Issue 3 • March 2024
Copyright
© 2023 American Society of Civil Engineers.
History
Received: Feb 7, 2023
Accepted: Aug 2, 2023
Published online: Dec 23, 2023
Published in print: Mar 1, 2024
Discussion open until: May 23, 2024
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