A team led by Prof. LI Xiangdong—Dean of the Faculty of Construction and Environment, Director of the Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD), Chair Professor of Environmental Science and Technology, and Ko Jan Ming Professor in Sustainable Urban Development—has successfully developed a novel biomineralisation technique which can effectively protect marine concrete from microbially induced corrosion, thereby contributing to the achievement of sustainable coastal structures.
Sulphate-reducing bacteria (SRB) are a type of anaerobic bacteria which accelerates the production of hydrogen sulphide that can lead to material corrosion and deterioration. The biomineralisation technique developed by the team is an environmentally friendly coating method. It utilises carbon dioxide to produce mineral precipitates on concrete surfaces. This results in the formation of a biomineralised film, which acts as a protective layer to control sulphate diffusion and isolate concrete from the corrosive SRB.
This biomineralisation strategy has strong potential for applications in various settings in which microbial corrosion occurs, such as marine environments, sewage environments, and water-cooling utilities. The team’s study, titled “Biomineralization to prevent microbially induced corrosion on concrete for sustainable marine infrastructure”, was published in Environmental Science & Technology (https://pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/acs.est.3c04680).
