Using Bacteria to Make Self-Healing Cement
26th August 2019
‘Bio-concrete’ is infused with limestone-producing bacteria in capsule form, along with calcium lactate. The bacteria that Jonkers used, either Bacillus pseudofirmus or Sporosarcina pasteurii, thrive in alkaline conditions and are found naturally in highly alkaline lakes near volcanoes. Being mixed with concrete and distributed evenly throughout it, they can lay there in a dormant state for up to 200 years; only when the concrete cracks, air and moisture awaken the bacteria which use the calcium lactate as a food source and start to produce limestone, sealing off the cracks in 3 weeks’ time. The technology, currently able to seal cracks of any length but only up to 0.8 mm wide, was a finalist for the European Inventor Award 2015, an initiative of the European Patent Office (EPO).
We have the technology.