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Biomimetic Infrastructure Materials: Towards a Greener Future
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Biomimetic Infrastructure Materials: Towards a Greener Future

A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Sustainable Materials".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (31 May 2022) | Viewed by 11090

Special Issue Editors

Dr. Riccardo Maddalena

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, Cardiff University, Cardiff CF10 3AT, UK
Interests: calcium silicate hydrate; nano-silica; Portland cement; cement chemistry; life-cycle assessment; carbon footprint; sustainable infrastructure
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Dr. Diane Gardner

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
School of Engineering, Cardiff University, UK
Interests: durability of cementitious materials; structural design; numerical modelling of flow processes; self-healing cementitious materials
Prof. Dr. Kevin Paine

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, University of Bath, Somerset, UK
Interests: bacteria-based self-healing concrete; self-sensing concrete using graphene and other sensors; electrically conductive concrete; nanotechnology enhanced concrete; recycled aggregates; low-carbon cements; geopolymers
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. John Sweeney

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
IRC in Polymer Science and Technology, School of Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Informatics, University of Bradford, Bradford BD7 1DP, UK
Interests: polymers; mechanical properties; constitutive model; finite element modelling; shape memory polymer
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Prof. Dr. Abir Al-Tabbaa

E-Mail Website
Guest Editor
Department of Engineering, University of Cambridge, Cambridge CB21PZ, UK
Interests: low-carbon materials; magnesia and low pH cements; advanced and green binders and grouts; self-healing and self-repair materials; cements for extreme geotechnical environments
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

In the last decade we have made significant progress in improving the efficiency of the built environment. Scientists around the world have designed strategies for self-repairing building materials using cutting-edge technologies. Providing infrastructure with the unique ability to self-heal damage without external intervention has made the development of durable materials possible and reduced the further need for in-situ maintenance. The Resilient Materials 4 Life consortium has contributed greatly to these achievements, developing biomimetic infrastructure materials capable of self-diagnosing, self-sensing, self-immunising and self-healing damage—a holistic approach intended to imitate the human body’s response to external damage. Biomimetic materials represent the future of sustainable infrastructure, with enhanced longevity and substantial reduction in energy consumption and maintenance costs, relative to conventional cementitious materials.

This Special Issue will provide a collection of noteworthy studies on:

  • Methodologies and/or case studies on innovative self-healing infrastructure materials;
  • Retrofitting and optimisation of existing structures with biomimetic characteristics;
  • Numerical investigations on biomimetic composite structures;
  • Carbon footprint analysis and life cycle assessment studies on biomimetic construction;
  • Case studies on life cycle assessment and service life prediction of infrastructure designed with biomimetic materials.

Original papers related to the above topics are welcome.

Thank you for your contributions.

Dr. Riccardo Maddalena
Dr. Diane Gardner
Prof. Abir Al-Tabbaa
Prof. Kevin Paine
Prof. John Sweeney
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • Self-healing materials
  • Biomimetic materials
  • Sustainability
  • Life cycle assessment
  • Self-sensing and infrastructure sensors
  • Corrosion
  • Bacterial healing
  • Service life prediction

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Published Papers (4 papers)

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Research

17 pages, 2976 KiB  
Article
Biobased Acrylate Shells for Microcapsules Used in Self-Healing of Cementitious Materials
by Lívia Ribeiro de Souza, Briony Whitfield and Abir Al-Tabbaa
Sustainability 2022, 14(20), 13556; https://doi.org/10.3390/su142013556 - 20 Oct 2022
Cited by 1 | Viewed by 2191
Abstract
To facilitate the ongoing transition towards carbon neutrality, the use of renewable materials for additive manufacturing has become increasingly important. Here, we report for the first time the fabrication of microcapsules from biobased acrylate shells using microfluidics. To select the shell, a wide [...] Read more.
To facilitate the ongoing transition towards carbon neutrality, the use of renewable materials for additive manufacturing has become increasingly important. Here, we report for the first time the fabrication of microcapsules from biobased acrylate shells using microfluidics. To select the shell, a wide range of biobased acrylates disclosed in the literature was considered according to their tensile strength, ductile transition temperature and global availability. Once acrylate epoxidised soybean oil (AESO) was selected, its viscosity was adjusted to valuables suitable for the microfluidic device using two different diluting agents. Double emulsions were successfully produced using microfluidics, followed by photopolymerisation of the shell and characterisation of the capsules. Microcapsules containing AESO and isobornyl acrylate (IBOA) were produced with an outer diameter ~490 μm, shell thickness ranging between 36 and 67 μm, and production rates around 2.4 g/h. The mechanical properties of the shell were characterised as tensile strength of 29.2 ± 7.7 MPa, Young’s modulus of 1.7 ± 0.4 GPa and the ductile transition temperature was estimated as 42 °C. To investigate physical triggering, microcapsules produced with a size of 481 ± 4 μm and with a measured shell thickness around 6 μm were embedded in the cementitious matrix. The triggered shells were observed with scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and the uniform distribution of the capsules in cement paste was confirmed using X-ray computed tomography (XCT). These advances can facilitate the wide application of biobased resins for the fabrication of microcapsules for self-healing in cementitious materials. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomimetic Infrastructure Materials: Towards a Greener Future)
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15 pages, 5653 KiB  
Article
SEBS-Polymer-Modified Slag–Cement–Bentonite for Resilient Slurry Walls
by Benyi Cao, Yunhui Zhang and Abir Al-Tabbaa
Sustainability 2022, 14(4), 2093; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14042093 - 12 Feb 2022
Cited by 3 | Viewed by 2215
Abstract
In spite of the well-established design and construction approaches of slag–cement–bentonite slurry walls, the materials deteriorate inevitably in contaminated land. The development of effective materials which are sustainable, resilient and self-healing over the lifetime of slurry walls becomes essential. This study, for the [...] Read more.
In spite of the well-established design and construction approaches of slag–cement–bentonite slurry walls, the materials deteriorate inevitably in contaminated land. The development of effective materials which are sustainable, resilient and self-healing over the lifetime of slurry walls becomes essential. This study, for the first time, adopts a styrene–ethylene/butylene–styrene (SEBS) polymer to modify slag–cement–bentonite materials to enhance mechanical and self-healing performance. The results show that the increase in SEBS dosage results in significantly increased strain at failure, indicating the enhanced ductility thanks to the modification by the deformable polymer. The increased ductility is beneficial as the slurry wall could deform to a greater extent without cracks. After the permeation of liquid paraffin, the SEBS exposed on the crack surface swells and seals the crack, with the post-healing permeability only slightly higher than the undamaged values, which exhibits good self-healing performance. Scanning electron microscopy and micro-computed tomography analyses innovatively reveal the good bonding and homogeneous distribution of SEBS in slag–cement–bentonite. SEBS acts as a binder to protect the slag–cement–bentonite sample from disintegration, and the swollen SEBS particles effectively seal and heal the cracks. These results demonstrate that the SEBS-modified slag–cement–bentonite could provide slurry walls with resilient mechanical properties and enhanced self-healing performance. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomimetic Infrastructure Materials: Towards a Greener Future)
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14 pages, 5511 KiB  
Article
The Effect of Bacteria on Early Age Strength of CEM I and CEM II Cementitious Composites
by Tsz Ying Hui, Lorena Skevi, Bianca Reeksting, Susanne Gebhard and Kevin Paine
Sustainability 2022, 14(2), 773; https://doi.org/10.3390/su14020773 - 11 Jan 2022
Cited by 2 | Viewed by 1531
Abstract
Despite being associated with lower carbon emissions, CEM II cementitious materials exhibit reduced early age strength compared to that of CEM I. Several studies have demonstrated early age strength improvements by incorporating bacterial cells in concrete. In this study, live vegetative bacteria and [...] Read more.
Despite being associated with lower carbon emissions, CEM II cementitious materials exhibit reduced early age strength compared to that of CEM I. Several studies have demonstrated early age strength improvements by incorporating bacterial cells in concrete. In this study, live vegetative bacteria and dead bacteria killed in two different ways were used to explore whether changes in strength are related to the bacteria’s viability or their surface morphology. Compressive and flexural strength tests were performed at mortars with and without bacteria for both CEM I and CEM II cement. Their microstructure, porosity and mineralogy were also examined. No net strength gain was recorded for either CEM I or CEM II bacterial mortars compared to non-bacterial controls, although changes in the porosity were reported. It is proposed that two phenomena, one causing strength-reduction and one causing strength-gain, took place in the bacterial specimens, simultaneously. It is suggested that each phenomenon is dependent on the alkalinity of the cement matrix, which differs between CEM I and CEM II mortars at early age. Nevertheless, in neither case could it be recommended that the addition of bacteria is an effective way of increasing the early age strength of mortars. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomimetic Infrastructure Materials: Towards a Greener Future)
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11 pages, 4477 KiB  
Article
Ureolytic MICP-Based Self-Healing Mortar under Artificial Seawater Incubation
by Xichen Sun, Jie Chen, Siyi Lu, Miaomiao Liu, Siyu Chen, Yifei Nan, Yang Wang and Jun Feng
Sustainability 2021, 13(9), 4834; https://doi.org/10.3390/su13094834 - 25 Apr 2021
Cited by 10 | Viewed by 3639
Abstract
Ureolytic microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a promising green technique for addressing sustainable building concerns by promoting self-healing mortar development. This paper deals with bacteria-based self-healing mortar under artificial seawater incubation for the sake of fast crack sealing with sufficient calcium resource [...] Read more.
Ureolytic microbial-induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a promising green technique for addressing sustainable building concerns by promoting self-healing mortar development. This paper deals with bacteria-based self-healing mortar under artificial seawater incubation for the sake of fast crack sealing with sufficient calcium resource supply. The ureolytic MICP mechanism was explored by morphology characterization and compositional analysis. With polyvinyl alcohol fiber reinforcement, self-healing mortar beams were produced and bent to generate 0.4 mm width cracks at the bottom. The crack-sealing capacity was evaluated at an age of 7 days, 14 days, and 28 days, suggesting a 1-week and 2-week healing time for 7-day- and 14-day-old samples. However, the 28-day-old ones failed to heal the cracks completely. The precipitation crystals filling the crack gap were identified as mainly vaterite with cell imprints. Moreover, fiber surface was found to be adhered by bacterial precipitates indicating fiber–matrix interfacial bond repair. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Biomimetic Infrastructure Materials: Towards a Greener Future)
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