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Microbial Biotechnology Approaches to Monuments of Cultural Heritage pp 177–198Cite as

Biocement: A Novel Approach in the Restoration of Construction Materials

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Abstract

Concrete is the most commonly used construction material worldwide for the development of durable structures. Structural integrity and design of buildings have become increasingly important in construction engineering as well as assessment of mixed formulation including cement and aggregate (i.e. sand, slag and stone). Microcrack formation on concrete may result in increased degradation and porous concrete. Therefore, there is a need to preserve and maintain concrete structures due to its high associated cost of restoration. In addition, reducing the negative environmental impact due to high CO2 emissions during cement production need to be considered as well. One key solution includes bio-based self-healing techniques. Research has focused on biomineralisation, a method of sealing microcracks using bacterial calcium carbonate deposits, via a common process of biocementation or microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP). As such, these deposits possess promising micro-bonding and pore-filling macro-effects for potential application in the construction industry. In view of these novel state-of-the-art techniques, this chapter provides an overview of potential microbes, mode of action of the self-healing process, primary limitations for future techniques and potential applications in the construction industry.

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Acknowledgements

The authors would like to express their sincere thanks for the support of the Ministry of Education (MoE) and UTM-RMC (Malaysia) through HICoE Grant No. RJ130000.7846.4 J262.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Bioproduct Development (IBD), Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia

    Hesham El Enshasy, Daniel Joe Dailin, Roslinda Abd Malek, Nurul Zahidah Nordin, Ho Chin Keat & Jennifer Eyahmalay

  2. School of Chemical Engineering and Energy, Faculty of Engineering, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM), Johor Bahru, Malaysia

    Hesham El Enshasy, Daniel Joe Dailin, Roslinda Abd Malek, Nurul Zahidah Nordin & Jennifer Eyahmalay

  3. Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology Research Institute, City of Scientific Research and Technology Applications (CSAT), New Burg Al Arab Alexandria, Egypt

    Hesham El Enshasy

  4. Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR), Bioprocess Development Group, Pretoria, South Africa

    Santosh Ramchuran & Rajesh Lalloo

  5. Huashi Malaysia Sdn. Bhd, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

    Jimmy Ngow Chee Ghong

  6. School of Life Sciences, University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, South Africa

    Veshara Malapermal Ramdas

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  1. Hesham El Enshasy
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Correspondence to Hesham El Enshasy .

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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Biotechnology, Eternal University, Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh, India

    Ajar Nath Yadav

  2. Department of Molecular & Cell Biochemistry, Falavarjan Branch, Islamic Azad University, Isfahan, Iran

    Ali Asghar Rastegari

  3. Department of Chemistry & Biotechnology, Tallinn University of Technology, Tallinn, Estonia

    Vijai Kumar Gupta

  4. Gopi Nath P.G. College, Veer Bahadur Singh Purvanchal University, Ghazipur, Uttar Pradesh, India

    Neelam Yadav

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El Enshasy, H. et al. (2020). Biocement: A Novel Approach in the Restoration of Construction Materials. In: Yadav, A., Rastegari, A., Gupta, V., Yadav, N. (eds) Microbial Biotechnology Approaches to Monuments of Cultural Heritage. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-3401-0_10

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