• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2021.05a
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• pp.221-222
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• 2021

Bacterial self-healing concrete is known to improve the durability of concrete by preventing the propagation of microcracks. In the literature, bacteria prevent the corrosion of rebar by inhibiting water transfer through crack, but also can promote the corrosion by acting as an ion acceptor in the rust generation mechanism. Therefore in this study, the electrochemical analysis of bio-filmed rebar was conducted to explore the effects of the self-healing bacteria on the bare rebar without cement composite. As a result of the experiment contradicting trends for Ecorr and Icorr occurred and additional experiment will be conducted in various environments to collect data on the mechanism of corrosion of rebar by bacteria.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2022.04a
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• pp.245-246
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• 2022

Recently, research on the self-healing of concrete using bacteria has been actively conducted. The self-healing method using bacteria has a low self-healing rate and the surrounding environment of the fracture site is very important. A previous study to solve this problem involves the manufacture of capsules using 3D printing. Fracture position control was an important topic in 3D printing-based capsules. In this study, to compensate for the shortcomings of existing studies, a capsule capable of selective destruction location control was produced using PDMS-based molds that are not restricted by the environment. Resin capsules were prepared for each part using several molds and a bonding surface was arranged. In order to verify this on the bonding surface, fracture strength and wave unit values were analyzed through a three-way compression experiment. It can be seen that as the curing time increases, the deviation between samples decreases. In addition, through experiments, it was confirmed that the junction surface and wave unit values coincide in all three directions. It can be used for self-healing research using various solutions.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.8 no.1
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• pp.112-119
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• 2020

In this study, cellulose-based bacterial pellets was used for the self-healing concrete manufacturing. The pellet is composed of complex cultured bacterial spore powder, methyl cellulose, two kinds of PVA nutrients and water, and is extruded through a hydraulic press to have a shape of 2mm in diameter to 3 to 4mm in length. Cellulose pellets expand at neutral pH, release bacteria and nutrients, and do not react in a basic environment, increasing the long-term survival rate of bacteria in cement mortar. In addition, pellet self-healing performance of pellet mortar was significantly higher than that of control mortar. Cellulose-based pellets are a new type of bacterial carrier system that will help develop self-healing concrete in the future by improving and optimizing pellets.

• Journal of the Architectural Institute of Korea Structure & Construction
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• v.34 no.3
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• pp.53-59
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• 2018

When manufacturing self-healing concrete using bacteria, nutrients are added to increase the activity of the bacteria. Although many researches have focused on the effects of nutrients containing bacterial healing agent on concrete, few have studied the effects of sole nutrient on self-healing of cement composites. Bacterial nutrients, like commercial chemical admixtures, affect hydration characteristics such as flow, setting, hydration heat, mechanical strength of cement composites and also affect the self healing of cement composites by hydration of unhydrated particles. In this study, effect of the four nutrient commonly used in the existing literature on the hydration characteristics of cement composites by its addition was investigated. Flow, setting time, hydration heat, compressive strength have studied for each nutrients added by 1.5% and 3% of cement weight. Experimental results shows that urea and calcium-nitrate can be used up to 3% without significant detrimental effect on cement composites. Addition of calcium-lactate up to 1.5% show better compressive strength than control, but addition of 3% show almost non-hydration. Yeast extract shows detrimental effects on the composites regardless of the amount added.

• Proceedings of the Korean Institute of Building Construction Conference
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• 2021.05a
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• pp.203-204
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• 2021

Bacteria used in self-healing concrete, which arrest the crack, helps increasing the durability is well known. However, the survival and activity of the bacteria are precisely unknown. In this research, to know the bacteria's survival curve on the surface of the cement composite, bacteria's survival curve has been measured by CFU at different curing days. The survival curve of 3 days and 7 days curing does not show the significant differences in their survival tendency. However, the slope of death phase of 7 days curing was steeper than the 3 days of curing. This research was focused on the death phase but for further research, set of interval time will be reduced and observe the lag phase and exponential phase.

• Journal of the Korean Recycled Construction Resources Institute
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• v.10 no.4
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• pp.569-576
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• 2022

In this study, the healing performance of hybrid self-healing concrete was investigated by mixing bacterial pellets(BP) and solid phase capsules(SC), respectively, based on organic-inorganic self-healing material(MC). Constant water head permeability test was applied as a method of evaluating the healing performance, and the healing rate and the healed crack width calculated by the equivalent crack width were used as evaluation indicies. As a result of the water permeability test, when the initial crack width was 0.3 mm, the healing rates of MC-BP and MC-SC were 2.1~3.0 %pt higher than that of MC, and the healed crack width of hybrid concrete increased by 0.017~0.018 mm. In conclusion, it was found that the self-healing performance was not significantly improved even if the two types of healing materials are used together.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.169-179
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• 2012

Microbiological calcium carbonate precipitation (MCCP) is being applied for the aesthetic restoration of cement buildings destroyed by biochemical processes and to block water penetration into the cement's inner structure. After determining the advantages of this technique, many related studies in the area of architecture concerning the application of microorganisms to improve construction material have been reported in both America and Europe. The techniques compatibility with cement material is especially interesting because of the needed screening of various calcium carbonate forming-bacteria and the required development of their application methods. The purpose of this review is to describe the mechanism of MCCP and related researches with eco-friendly construction materials. Mainly, we describe the methodological studies focused on biodeposition on the surface of building materials and the research trends concerning the addition of microorganisms to improve the durability of cement structures. Additionally, the concepts and technical aspects focused on the development of self-healing smart concrete, with the use of multi-functional bacteria, have been considered.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.404-416
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• 2020

Bacteria that are resistant to high temperatures and alkaline environments are essential for the biological repair of damaged concrete. Alkaliphilic and halotolerant Bacillus sp. AK13 was isolated from the rhizosphere of Miscanthus sacchariflorus. Unlike other tested Bacillus species, the AK13 strain grows at pH 13 and withstands 11% (w/v) NaCl. Growth of the AK13 strain at elevated pH without urea promoted calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) formation. Irregular vaterite-like CaCO₃ minerals that were tightly attached to cells were observed using field-emission scanning electron microscopy. Energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, confocal laser scanning microscopy, and X-ray diffraction analyses confirmed the presence of CaCO₃ around the cell. Isotope ration mass spectrometry analysis confirmed that the majority of CO₃^2- ions in the CaCO₃ were produced by cellular respiration rather than being derived from atmospheric carbon dioxide. The minerals produced from calcium acetate-added growth medium formed smaller crystals than those formed in calcium lactate-added medium. Strain AK13 appears to heal cracks on mortar specimens when applied as a pelletized spore powder. Alkaliphilic Bacillus sp. AK13 is a promising candidate for self-healing agents in concrete.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.29 no.12
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• pp.1982-1992
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• 2019

The alkaliphilic, calcium carbonate precipitating Bacillus sp. strain AK13 can be utilized in concrete for self-repairing. A statistical experimental design was used to develop an economical medium for its mass cultivation and sporulation. Two types of screening experiment were first conducted to identify substrates that promote the growth of the AK13 strain: the first followed a one-factor-at-a-time factorial design and the second a two-level full factorial design. Based on these screening experiments, barley malt powder and mixed grain powder were identified as the substrates that most effectively promoted the growth of the AK13 strain from a range of 21 agricultural products and by-products. A quadratic statistical model was then constructed using a central composite design and the concentration of the two substrates was optimized. The estimated growth and sporulation of Bacillus sp. strain AK13 in the proposed medium were 3.08 ± 0.38 × 10⁸ and 1.25 ± 0.12 × 10⁸ CFU/ml, respectively, which meant that the proposed low-cost medium was approximately 45 times more effective than the commercial medium in terms of the number of cultivatable bacteria per unit price. The spores were then powdered via a spray-drying process to produce a spore powder with a spore count of 2.0 ± 0.7 × 10⁹ CFU/g. The AK13 spore powder was mixed with cement paste, yeast extract, calcium lactate, and water. The yeast extract and calcium lactate generated the highest CFU/ml for AK13 at a 0.4:0.4 ratio compared to 0.4:0.25 (the original ratio of the B4 medium) and 0.4:0.8. Twenty-eight days after the spores were mixed into the mortar, the number of vegetative cells and spores of the AK13 strain had reached 10⁶ CFU/g within the mortar. Cracks in the mortar under 0.29 mm were healed in 14 days. Calcium carbonate precipitation was observed on the crack surface. The mortar containing the spore powder was thus concluded to be effective in terms of healing micro-cracks.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.26 no.3
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• pp.540-548
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• 2016

Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (CCP) is a long-standing but re-emerging environmental engineering process for production of self-healing concrete, bioremediation, and long-term storage of CO₂. CCP-capable bacteria, two Bacillus strains (JH3 and JH7) and one Sporosarcina strain (HYO08), were isolated from two samples of concrete and characterized phylogenetically. Calcium carbonate crystals precipitated by the three strains were morphologically distinct according to field emission scanning electron microscopy. Energy dispersive X-ray spectrometry mapping confirmed biomineralization via extracellular calcium carbonate production. The three strains differed in their physiological characteristics: growth at alkali pH and high NaCl concentrations, and urease activity. Sporosarcina sp. HYO08 and Bacillus sp. JH7 were more alkali- and halotolerant, respectively. Analysis of the community from the same concrete samples using barcoded pyrosequencing revealed that the relative abundance of Bacillus and Sporosarcina species was low, which indicated low culturability of other dominant bacteria. This study suggests that calcium carbonate crystals with different properties can be produced by various CCP-capable strains, and other novel isolates await discovery.