Concrete that heals itself.

[RagnarokDel]

 

The bioconcrete is mixed just like regular concrete, but with an extra ingredient -- the "healing agent." It remains intact during mixing, only dissolving and becoming active if the concrete cracks and water gets in.

Jonkers, a microbiologist, began working on it in 2006, when a concrete technologist asked him if it would be possible to use bacteria to make self-healing concrete.

It took Jonkers three years to crack the problem -- but there were some tricky challenges to overcome.

"You need bacteria that can survive the harsh environment of concrete," says Jonkers. "It's a rock-like, stone-like material, very dry."

Concrete is extremely alkaline and the "healing" bacteria must wait dormant for years before being activated by water.

Jonkers chose bacillus bacteria for the job, because they thrive in alkaline conditions and produce spores that can survive for decades without food or oxygen.

 

"The next challenge was not only to have the bacteria active in concrete, but also to make them produce repair material for the concrete -- and that is limestone," Jonkers explains.

In order to produce limestone the bacilli need a food source. Sugar was one option, but adding sugar to the mix would create soft, weak, concrete.

In the end, Jonkers chose calcium lactate, setting the bacteria and calcium lactate into capsules made from biodegradable plastic and adding the capsules to the wet concrete mix.

 

 

 

 

Source

[werto165]

They should put this stuff on a toilet roll for the ultimate prank.

[ZetZet]

http://dornob.com/see-through-light-transmitting-concrete-material/This one is more interesting to me.  :lol:

[Johannes_Lazor]

I saw it in a science paper here in sweden 2010 i think, Not new to me.

[RagnarokDel]

http://dornob.com/see-through-light-transmitting-concrete-material/This one is more interesting to me.  :lol:

Holy shit. If that's true, that's a major game changer.

[ZetZet]

Holy shit. If that's true, that's a major game changer.

True, but too expensive to use.

[Darkman]

Michigan could definitely use this. Bet @tmclelland455 will agree.

[Dabombinable]

http://dornob.com/see-through-light-transmitting-concrete-material/This one is more interesting to me.  :lol:

Or this: http://dornob.com/next-gen-concrete-will-make-buildings-that-last-16k-years/

[ZetZet]

Or this: http://dornob.com/next-gen-concrete-will-make-buildings-that-last-16k-years/

That is meh. We clearly don't need that. What we need is buildings that are easy to take apart instead. That is why metal/glass structures are prime material currently.

[79 Potatoes]

[insert penis enlargement joke here]

[Trik'Stari]

We start with this, end up with one of these trying to kill us.

[TheKDub]

Michigan could definitely use this. Bet @tmclelland455 will agree.

 

I definitely agree with this, there are some spots around my town in michigan where the roads are absolute shit, this would make it so much nicer to drive on

 

Maybe they could use this in my church parking lot to fix it (The parking lot was built on a shitload of clay, and doesn't have any drains because whoever built the parking lot wasn't very smart, or didn't think "Oh, maybe when it rains or snows, there will be a freakin huge ass amount of water everywhere..." so there are tons of cracks and broken chunks of cement in it)

[Bouzoo]

Or this: http://dornob.com/next-gen-concrete-will-make-buildings-that-last-16k-years/

 

NEXT GEN CONCRETE. Oh come on!

 

On topic: I think it's a great concept... except it looks like a 7 year old tried to fill a crack