Biobased Encapsulation Self-Healing Technique in Concrete Pavement

To reduce the carbon footprint of concrete infrastructure in the context of climate change, more sustainable, concrete pavements are required. Cracking under traffic strain severely damages concrete pavements and Cementous composites. The cost of rehabilitation and maintenance of concrete pavements is high. Although cracks are typically minor and do not always cause pavement collapse, they may reduce the life cycle and sustainability of pavements. The cost of rehabilitation and maintenance of rigid pavements is high. These concerns can be addressed by encouraging concrete self-healing processes via spore encapsulation. To enable such self-healing behavior without compromising the field performance of the concrete pavement, the needed microcapsules must be resilient against harsh environments, oxidation, and mechanical stress. For the first time, this study suggests the use of an exceptionally resistant biobased 2% (W/V of cement) spore suspension containing 106 cells/ml in 200 ml of sodium alginate solution for encapsulation in order to construct more durable self-healing pavements. Encapsulation contains the bacterial consortia Bacillus flexus MK-FYT-3 and Bacillus haynesii MK-NW-9, endosporeforming bacteria capable of producing urease enzyme and growing at 60°C with optimum growth at 40°C (Mahmoud et al., 2022). SEM, visualized images, compressive strength, and indirect tensile strength tests were used to investigate the material properties and mechanical changes. Additionally, the healing levels of samples after cracking and the healing period were examined. Keywords: Encapsulation - Self-Healing – Spore - Concrete Pavements - Bacterial Consortia