University
of Colorado Boulder researchers have developed a new approach to designing more
sustainable buildings with help from some of the tiniest contractors out there.
Such
structures could, one day, heal their own cracks, suck up dangerous toxins from
the air or even glow on command, based on experiments with cyanobacteria
belonging to the genus Synechococcus. Under the right conditions, these green
microbes absorb carbon dioxide gas to help them grow and make calcium carbonate
-- the main ingredient in limestone and, it turns out, cement.
Such
bricks would actually remove carbon dioxide from the air, not pump it back out.
In the new study, the team discovered that under a range of humidity
conditions, they have about the same strength as the mortar used by contractors
today.
The
researchers also discovered that they could make their material reproduce. Chop
one of these bricks in half, and each of half is capable of growing into a new
brick. Those new bricks are resilient: According to the group's calculations,
roughly 9-14% of the bacterial colonies in their materials were still alive
after 30 days and three different generations in brick form. Bacteria added to
concrete to develop self-healing materials, in contrast, tend to have survival
rates of less than 1%.
See:
Chelsea
M. Heveran, Sarah L. Williams, Jishen Qiu, Juliana Artier, Mija H. Hubler,
Sherri M. Cook, Jeffrey C. Cameron, Wil V. Srubar. Biomineralization and
Successive Regeneration of Engineered Living Building Materials. Matter, 2020;
DOI: 10.1016/j.matt.2019.11.016
Posted by Dr. Tim Sandle, Pharmaceutical Microbiology Resources (http://www.pharmamicroresources.com/)
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