Mohamed Ramadan

There appears to be a revolution in construction materials, after the control of cement and traditional concrete for more than a hundred years. A team of researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder was able to invent live concrete using bacteria and sand.

Where the new building materials are characterized as having a structure with a high bearing capacity, and is environmentally friendly compared to traditional building materials, in addition to its ability to perform vital functions with many future applications.

Live building materials
The study - published in the journal "Matter" of the prestigious group "Patrol" of Patrol - details of the manufacture of these live concrete, where the research team created struts of sand and water gel (hydrogel), and then added to it one of the types of bacteria that multiply on those pillars to mineralize; Then a living building material is formed that has the same strength and hardness as the cement mixture.

Will Sarropar, associate professor at the University of Colorado Boulder and captain of the research team - through the press release - explains, "We really use biomaterials in construction like wood, but they are not living materials (...) But what we are trying to do is produce live building materials, using The blue bacteria that can do photosynthesis for the mineralization of sand and gel supports. "

The main purpose of this study is to provide green, environmentally friendly alternatives to the building materials currently used, especially as the cement industry - which is the main component of building concrete - alone contributes about 6% of global carbon dioxide emissions.

Add to this that the cement industry is a highly polluting air with fine grains that have severe negative effects on human health.

Reproductive bricks
The new bio concrete is mainly dependent on one of the types of cyanobacteria of the genus Serechococcus, which can perform photosynthesis, as these bacteria are injected into a frame of sand and aqueous gel that provides the food and moisture necessary for bacterial growth.

Calcium carbonate, which is produced by bacteria, gives the gel mineral properties to turn into a brick mold (uric alert).

And then those bacteria grow and multiply to absorb carbon dioxide and produce calcium carbonate (the main component of limestone and cement) through a series of vital processes; for the calcium carbonate produced from the bacteria to give the gel mineral properties, in a process known as bio mineralization, to turn the mixture of sand, gel and bacteria into A brick with the strength of concrete itself.

Not only does this stop, the new live brick mold can also reproduce. By dividing a brick block into two halves, each half can grow into a complete brick block by adding a little sand and aqueous gel.

The research team has been able to produce eight bricks of single brick from three generations.

This may be a revolutionary way to produce building materials, as Srupar states, "This is a very exciting issue, as it challenges traditional methods of manufacturing construction materials, and shows the possibility of maximizing the manufacture of building materials in a manner similar to exponential sequences."

Building materials with vital tasks
Scientists aspire to use these living building materials made from bacteria in many applications in the future, where it is possible through the use of different types of bacteria to produce building materials that can perform various vital tasks, such as self-treatment of cracks in buildings, or the detection of pollutants in the surrounding environment and their absorption, or even Self-lighting when needed.

The affirmation by Chelsea Hiveran, associate professor at Montana State University and a member of the research team - through the press release - said, "Although this technology is still in its infancy, in the future, live building materials will be used to improve the efficiency and sustainability of building materials production and production methods, and they may allow To those materials by sensing and interacting with the surrounding environment. "