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Microbiologically induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a bio-geochemical process that induces calcium carbonate precipitation within the soil matrix. [1] Biomineralization in the form of calcium carbonate precipitation can be traced back to the Precambrian period. [2] Calcium carbonate can be precipitated in three polymorphic forms, which in the order of their usual stabilities are calcite, aragonite and vaterite. [3] The main groups of microorganisms that can induce the carbonate precipitation are photosynthetic microorganisms such as cyanobacteria and microalgae; sulfate-reducing bacteria; and some species of microorganisms involved in nitrogen cycle. [4] Several mechanisms have been identified by which bacteria can induce the calcium carbonate precipitation, including urea hydrolysis, denitrification, sulfate production, and iron reduction. [5] Two different pathways, or autotrophic and heterotrophic pathways, through which calcium carbonate is produced have been identified. There are three autotrophic pathways, which all result in depletion of carbon dioxide and favouring calcium carbonate precipitation. [6] In heterotrophic pathway, two metabolic cycles can be involved: the nitrogen cycle and the sulfur cycle. [7] Several applications of this process have been proposed, such as remediation of cracks and corrosion prevention in concrete, [8] [9] [10] [11] [12] [13] [14] [15] [16] biogrout, [17] [18] [19] [20] [21] [22] [23] [24] sequestration of radionuclides and heavy metals. [25] [26] [27] [28] [29] [30] [ excessive citations ]
All three principal kinds of bacteria that are involved in autotrophic production of carbonate obtain carbon from gaseous or dissolved carbon dioxide. [31] These pathways include non-methylotrophic methanogenesis, anoxygenic photosynthesis, and oxygenic photosynthesis. Non-methylotrophic methanogenesis is carried out by methanogenic archaebacteria, which use CO2 and H2 in anaerobiosis to give CH4. [31]
Two separate and often concurrent heterotrophic pathways that lead to calcium carbonate precipitation may occur, including active and passive carbonatogenesis. During active carbonatogenesis, the carbonate particles are produced by ionic exchanges through the cell membrane [32] by activation of calcium and/or magnesium ionic pumps or channels, probably coupled with carbonate ion production. [31] During passive carbonatogenesis, two metabolic cycles can be involved, the nitrogen cycle and the sulfur cycle. Three different pathways can be involved in the nitrogen cycle: ammonification of amino acids, dissimilatory reduction of nitrate, and degradation of urea or uric acid. [8] [33] In the sulfur cycle, bacteria follow the dissimilatory reduction of sulfate. [31]
The microbial urease catalyzes the hydrolysis of urea into ammonium and carbonate. [20] One mole of urea is hydrolyzed intracellularly to 1 mol of ammonia and 1 mole of carbamic acid (1), which spontaneously hydrolyzes to form an additional 1 mole of ammonia and carbonic acid (2). [7] [34]
Ammonium and carbonic acid form bicarbonate and 2 moles of ammonium and hydroxide ions in water (3 &4).
The production of hydroxide ions results in the increase of pH, [35] which in turn can shift the bicarbonate equilibrium, resulting in the formation of carbonate ions (5)
The produced carbonate ions precipitate in the presence of calcium ions as calcium carbonate crystals (6).
The formation of a monolayer of calcite further increases the affinity of the bacteria to the soil surface, resulting in the production of multiple layers of calcite.
MICP has been reported as a long-term remediation technique that has been exhibited high potential for crack cementation of various structural formations such as granite and concrete. [36]
MICP has been shown to prolong concrete service life due to calcium carbonate precipitation. The calcium carbonate heals the concrete by solidifying on the cracked concrete surface, mimicking the process by which bone fractures in human body are healed by osteoblast cells that mineralize to reform the bone. [36] Two methods are currently being studied: injection of calcium carbonate precipitating bacteria. [12] [13] [37] [38] and by applying bacteria and nutrients as a surface treatment. [10] [39] [40] Increase in strength and durability of MICP treated cement mortar and concrete has been reported. [40] [41]
Architect Ginger Krieg Dosier won the 2010 Metropolis Next Generation Design Competition for her work using microbial-induced calcite precipitation to manufacture bricks while lowering carbon dioxide emissions. [42] She has since founded Biomason, Inc., a company that employs microorganisms and chemical processes to manufacture building materials.
MICP technique may be applied to produce a material that can be used as a filler in rubber and plastics, fluorescent particles in stationery ink, and a fluorescent marker for biochemistry applications, such as western blot. [43]
Microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation has been proposed as an alternative cementation technique to improve the properties of potentially liquefiable sand. [1] [18] [20] [21] [22] The increase in shear strength, confined compressive strength, stiffness and liquefaction resistance was reported due to calcium carbonate precipitation resulting from microbial activity. [19] [20] [22] [24] The increase of soil strength from MICP is a result of the bonding of the grains and the increased density of the soil. [44] Research has shown a linear relationship between the amount of carbonate precipitation and the increase in strength and porosity. [24] [44] [45] A 90% decrease in porosity has also been observed in MICP treated soil. [24] Light microscopic imaging suggested that the mechanical strength enhancement of cemented sandy material is caused mostly due to point-to-point contacts of calcium carbonate crystals and adjacent sand grains. [46]
One-dimensional column experiments allowed the monitoring of treatment progration by the means of change in pore fluid chemistry. [1] [18] [24] [47] Triaxial compression tests on untreated and bio-cemented Ottawa sand have shown an increase in shear strength by a factor of 1.8. [48] Changes in pH and concentrations of urea, ammonium, calcium and calcium carbonate in pore fluid with the distance from the injection point in 5-meter column experiments have shown that bacterial activity resulted in successful hydrolysis of urea, increase in pH and precipitation of calcite. [24] However, such activity decreased as the distance from the injection point increased. Shear wave velocity measurements demonstrated that positive correlation exists between shear wave velocity and the amount of precipitated calcite. [49]
One of the first patents on ground improvement by MICP was the patent “Microbial Biocementation” by Murdoch University (Australia). [50] A large scale (100 m3) have shown a significant increase in shear wave velocity was observed during the treatment. [23] Originally MICP was tested and designed for underground applications in water saturated ground, requiring injection and production pumps. Recent work [51] has demonstrated that surface percolation or irrigation is also feasible and in fact provides more strength per amount of calcite provided because crystals form more readily at the bridging points between sand particles over which the water percolates. [52]
Benefits of MICP for liquefaction prevention
MICP has the potential to be a cost-effective and green alternative to traditional methods of stabilizing soils, such as chemical grouting, which typically involve the injection of synthetic materials into the soil. These synthetic additives are typically costly and can create environmental hazards by modifying the pH and contaminating soils and groundwater. Excluding sodium silicate, all traditional chemical additives are toxic. Soils engineered with MICP meet green construction requirements because the process exerts minimal disturbance to the soil and the environment. [44]
MICP treatment may be limited to deep soil due to limitations of bacterial growth and movement in subsoil. MICP may be limited to the soils containing limited amounts of fines due to the reduction in pore spaces in fine soils. Based on the size of microorganism, the applicability of biocementation is limited to GW, GP, SW, SP, ML, and organic soils. [53] Bacteria are not expected to enter through pore throats smaller than approximately 0.4 μm. In general, the microbial abundance was found to increase with the increase in particle size. [54] On the other hand, the fine particles may provide more favorable nucleation sites for calcium carbonate precipitation because the mineralogy of the grains could directly influence the thermodynamics of the precipitation reaction in the system. [22] The habitable pores and traversable pore throats were found in coarse sediments and some clayey sediments at shallow depth. In clayey soil, bacteria are capable of reorienting and moving clay particles under low confining stress (at shallow depths). However, inability to make these rearrangements under high confining stresses limits bacterial activity at larger depths. Furthermore, sediment-cell interaction may cause puncture or tensile failure of the cell membrane. Similarly, at larger depths, silt and sand particles may crush and cause a reduction in pore spaces, reducing the biological activity. Bacterial activity is also impacted by challenges such as predation, competition, pH, temperature, and nutrient availability. [55] These factors can contribute to the population decline of bacteria. Many of these limitations can be overcome through the use of MICP through bio-stimulation - a process through which indigenous ureolytic soil bacteria are enriched in situ. [55] This method is not always possible as not all indigenous soils have enough ureolytic bacteria to achieve successful MICP. [44]
MICP is a promising technique that can be used for containment of various contaminants and heavy metals. The availability of lead in soil may reduced by its chelation with the MICP product, which is the mechanism responsible for lead immobilization. [56] MICP can be also applied to achieve sequestration of heavy metals and radionuclides. Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation of radionuclide and contaminant metals into calcite is a competitive co-precipitation reaction in which suitable divalent cations are incorporated into the calcite lattice. [57] [58] Europium, a trivalent lanthanide, which was used as a homologue for trivalent actinides, such as Pu(III), Am(III), and Cm(III), was shown to incorporate into the calcite phase substituting for Ca(II) as well as in a low-symmetry site within the biomineral. [59]
Shewanella oneidensis inhibits the dissolution of calcite under laboratory conditions. [60]
Limestone is a type of carbonate sedimentary rock which is the main source of the material lime. It is composed mostly of the minerals calcite and aragonite, which are different crystal forms of CaCO3. Limestone forms when these minerals precipitate out of water containing dissolved calcium. This can take place through both biological and nonbiological processes, though biological processes, such as the accumulation of corals and shells in the sea, have likely been more important for the last 540 million years. Limestone often contains fossils which provide scientists with information on ancient environments and on the evolution of life.
Calcite is a carbonate mineral and the most stable polymorph of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). It is a very common mineral, particularly as a component of limestone. Calcite defines hardness 3 on the Mohs scale of mineral hardness, based on scratch hardness comparison. Large calcite crystals are used in optical equipment, and limestone composed mostly of calcite has numerous uses.
Geomicrobiology is the scientific field at the intersection of geology and microbiology and is a major subfield of geobiology. It concerns the role of microbes on geological and geochemical processes and effects of minerals and metals to microbial growth, activity and survival. Such interactions occur in the geosphere, the atmosphere and the hydrosphere. Geomicrobiology studies microorganisms that are driving the Earth's biogeochemical cycles, mediating mineral precipitation and dissolution, and sorbing and concentrating metals. The applications include for example bioremediation, mining, climate change mitigation and public drinking water supplies.
A concretion is a hard, compact mass formed by the precipitation of mineral cement within the spaces between particles, and is found in sedimentary rock or soil. Concretions are often ovoid or spherical in shape, although irregular shapes also occur. The word 'concretion' is derived from the Latin concretio "(act of) compacting, condensing, congealing, uniting", itself from con meaning "together" and crescere meaning "to grow".
Tufa is a variety of limestone formed when carbonate minerals precipitate out of water in unheated rivers or lakes. Geothermally heated hot springs sometimes produce similar carbonate deposits, which are known as travertine. Tufa is sometimes referred to as (meteogene) travertine. It should not be confused with hot spring (thermogene) travertine. Tufa, which is calcareous, should also not be confused with tuff, a porous volcanic rock with a similar etymology that is sometimes also called "tufa".
Soil liquefaction occurs when a cohesionless saturated or partially saturated soil substantially loses strength and stiffness in response to an applied stress such as shaking during an earthquake or other sudden change in stress condition, in which material that is ordinarily a solid behaves like a liquid. In soil mechanics, the term "liquefied" was first used by Allen Hazen in reference to the 1918 failure of the Calaveras Dam in California. He described the mechanism of flow liquefaction of the embankment dam as:
If the pressure of the water in the pores is great enough to carry all the load, it will have the effect of holding the particles apart and of producing a condition that is practically equivalent to that of quicksand... the initial movement of some part of the material might result in accumulating pressure, first on one point, and then on another, successively, as the early points of concentration were liquefied.
Dolomite (also known as dolomite rock, dolostone or dolomitic rock) is a sedimentary carbonate rock that contains a high percentage of the mineral dolomite, CaMg(CO3)2. It occurs widely, often in association with limestone and evaporites, though it is less abundant than limestone and rare in Cenozoic rock beds (beds less than about 66 million years in age). The first geologist to distinguish dolomite from limestone was Déodat Gratet de Dolomieu; a French mineralogist and geologist whom it is named after. He recognized and described the distinct characteristics of dolomite in the late 18th century, differentiating it from limestone.
Carbonate rocks are a class of sedimentary rocks composed primarily of carbonate minerals. The two major types are limestone, which is composed of calcite or aragonite (different crystal forms of CaCO3), and dolomite rock (also known as dolostone), which is composed of mineral dolomite (CaMg(CO3)2). They are usually classified based on texture and grain size. Importantly, carbonate rocks can exist as metamorphic and igneous rocks, too. When recrystallized carbonate rocks are metamorphosed, marble is created. Rare igneous carbonate rocks even exist as intrusive carbonatites and, even rarer, there exists volcanic carbonate lava.
Biomineralization, also written biomineralisation, is the process by which living organisms produce minerals, often resulting in hardened or stiffened mineralized tissues. It is an extremely widespread phenomenon: all six taxonomic kingdoms contain members that are able to form minerals, and over 60 different minerals have been identified in organisms. Examples include silicates in algae and diatoms, carbonates in invertebrates, and calcium phosphates and carbonates in vertebrates. These minerals often form structural features such as sea shells and the bone in mammals and birds.
Microbial corrosion, also called microbiologically influenced corrosion (MIC), microbially induced corrosion (MIC), or biocorrosion, is when microbes affect the electrochemical environment of the surface they are on. This usually involves building a biofilm, which can lead to either an increase in corrosion of the surface or, in a process called microbial corrosion inhibition, protect the surface from corrosion.
Vacuum consolidation is a soft soil improvement method that has been successfully used by geotechnical engineers and specialists of ground improvement companies in countries such as Australia, China, Korea, Thailand and France for soil improvement or land reclamation. It does not necessarily require surcharge fill and vacuum loads of 80kPa or greater can, typically, be maintained for as long as required.
A calcite sea is a sea in which low-magnesium calcite is the primary inorganic marine calcium carbonate precipitate. An aragonite sea is the alternate seawater chemistry in which aragonite and high-magnesium calcite are the primary inorganic carbonate precipitates. The Early Paleozoic and the Middle to Late Mesozoic oceans were predominantly calcite seas, whereas the Middle Paleozoic through the Early Mesozoic and the Cenozoic are characterized by aragonite seas.
Cementation involves ions carried in groundwater chemically precipitating to form new crystalline material between sedimentary grains. The new pore-filling minerals forms "bridges" between original sediment grains, thereby binding them together. In this way, sand becomes sandstone, and gravel becomes conglomerate or breccia. Cementation occurs as part of the diagenesis or lithification of sediments. Cementation occurs primarily below the water table regardless of sedimentary grain sizes present. Large volumes of pore water must pass through sediment pores for new mineral cements to crystallize and so millions of years are generally required to complete the cementation process. Common mineral cements include calcite, quartz, and silica phases like cristobalite, iron oxides, and clay minerals; other mineral cements also occur.
Bacterial anaerobic corrosion is the bacterially-induced oxidation of metals. Corrosion of metals typically alters the metal to a form that is more stable. Thus, bacterial anaerobic corrosion typically occurs in conditions favorable to the corrosion of the underlying substrate. In humid, anoxic conditions the corrosion of metals occurs as a result of a redox reaction. This redox reaction generates molecular hydrogen from local hydrogen ions. Conversely, anaerobic corrosion occurs spontaneously. Anaerobic corrosion primarily occurs on metallic substrates but may also occur on concrete.
Sporosarcina pasteurii formerly known as Bacillus pasteurii from older taxonomies, is a gram positive bacterium with the ability to precipitate calcite and solidify sand given a calcium source and urea; through the process of microbiologically induced calcite precipitation (MICP) or biological cementation. S. pasteurii has been proposed to be used as an ecologically sound biological construction material. Researchers studied the bacteria in conjunction with plastic and hard mineral; forming a material stronger than bone. It is a commonly used for MICP since it is non-pathogenic and is able to produce high amounts of the enzyme urease which hydrolyzes urea to carbonate and ammonia.
A whiting event is a phenomenon that occurs when a suspended cloud of fine-grained calcium carbonate precipitates in water bodies, typically during summer months, as a result of photosynthetic microbiological activity or sediment disturbance. The phenomenon gets its name from the white, chalky color it imbues to the water. These events have been shown to occur in temperate waters as well as tropical ones, and they can span for hundreds of meters. They can also occur in both marine and freshwater environments. The origin of whiting events is debated among the scientific community, and it is unclear if there is a single, specific cause. Generally, they are thought to result from either bottom sediment re-suspension or by increased activity of certain microscopic life such as phytoplankton. Because whiting events affect aquatic chemistry, physical properties, and carbon cycling, studying the mechanisms behind them holds scientific relevance in various ways.
Microbialite is a benthic sedimentary deposit made of carbonate mud that is formed with the mediation of microbes. The constituent carbonate mud is a type of automicrite ; therefore, it precipitates in situ instead of being transported and deposited. Being formed in situ, a microbialite can be seen as a type of boundstone where reef builders are microbes, and precipitation of carbonate is biotically induced instead of forming tests, shells or skeletons.
A living building material (LBM) is a material used in construction or industrial design that behaves in a way resembling a living organism. Examples include: self-mending biocement, self-replicating concrete replacement, and mycelium-based composites for construction and packaging. Artistic projects include building components and household items.
Laguna Negra is a lake in the Catamarca Province of Argentina. It lies on the Puna high plateau next to two other lakes and salt flats. The lake is less than 2 metres deep and forms a rough rectangle with a surface of 8.6 square kilometres (3.3 sq mi). Laguna Negra loses its water through evaporation, and is replenished through surface runoff and groundwater which ultimately originate to a large part from snowmelt. The waters of the lake are salty.
Self-healing concrete is characterized as the capability of concrete to fix its CRACKS on its own autogenously or autonomously. It not only seals the cracks but also partially or entirely recovers the mechanical properties of the structural elements. This kind of concrete is also known as self-repairing concrete. Because concrete has a poor low shreanth compared to other building materials, it often develops cracks in the surface. These cracks reduce the durability of the concrete because they facilitate the flow of liquids and gases that may contain harmful compounds. If microcracks expand and reach the reinforcement, not only will the concrete itself be susceptible to attack, but so will the reinforcement steel bars. Therefore, it is essential to limit the crack's width and repair it as quickly as feasible. Self-healing concrete would not only make the material more sustainable, but it would also contribute to an increase in the service life of concrete structures and make the material more durable and environmentally friendly.