• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.23 no.9
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• pp.1269-1278
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• 2013

Crack remediation on the surface of cement mortar using microbiological calcium carbonate ($CaCO_3$) precipitation (MICP) has been investigated as a microbial sealing agent on construction materials. However, MICP research has never acknowledged the antifungal properties of calcite-forming bacteria (CFB). Since fungal colonization on concrete surfaces can trigger biodeterioration processes, fungi on concrete buildings have to be prevented. Therefore, to develop a microbial sealing agent that has antifungal properties to remediate cement cracks without deteriorative fungal colonization, we introduced an antifungal CFB isolated from oceanic islands (Dokdo islands, territory of South Korea, located at the edge of the East Sea in Korea.). The isolation of CFB was done using B4 or urea-$CaCl_2$ media. Furthermore, antifungal assays were done using the pairing culture and disk diffusion methods. Five isolated CFB showed $CaCO_3$ precipitation and antifungal activities against deteriorative fungal strains. Subsequently, five candidate bacteria were identified using 16S rDNA sequence analysis. Crack remediation, fungi growth inhibition, and water permeability reduction of antifungal CFB-treated cement surfaces were tested. All antifungal CFB showed crack remediation abilities, but only three strains (KNUC2100, 2103, and 2106) reduced the water permeability. Furthermore, these three strains showed fungi growth inhibition. This paper is the first application research of CFB that have antifungal activity, for an eco-friendly improvement of construction materials.

• Proceedings of the Microbiological Society of Korea Conference
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• 2001.11a
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• pp.26-36
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• 2001

A novel approach of microbiologically-enhanced crack remediation (MECR) has been initiated and evaluated in this report. Under the laboratory conditions, Bacillus pasteurii was used to induce $CaCO_3$ precipitation as the microbial urease hydrolyzes urea to produce ammonia and carbon dioxide. The ammonia released in surroundings subsequently increases pH, leading to accumulation of insoluble $CaCO_3$. Scanning electron micrography (SEM) and x-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses evidenced the direct involvement of microorganisms in $CaCO_3$ precipitation. In biochemical studies, the primary roles of microorganisms and microbial urease were defined. Furthermore, the role of urease in $CaCO_3$ precipitation was characterized utilizing recombinant Escherichia coli that encoded B. pasteurii urease genes in a plasmid. Microorganisms immobilized in polyurethane (PU) polymer were applied to remediate concrete cracks. Although microbiologically- induced calcite precipitation enhanced neither the tensile strength nor the modulus of elasticity of the PU polymer, cement mortar whose crack was remediated with the cemaden polymer showed a significant increase in compressive strength. Through detailed investigation, MECR showed an excellent potential in cementing cracks in granite, concrete, and beyond.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.38 no.2
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• pp.216-221
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• 2010

This study shows an application of microbiologically induced carbonate precipitate for strength improvement and crack remediation of cement-sand mortar. Seven calcium carbonate-forming bacteria (CFB) were isolated from Dok-do and partially identified by DNA sequence analysis of the 16s rRNA gene. Crystal aggregates were apparent around the bacterial colonies grown on an agar medium. These strains showed strain specific $CaCO_3$ precipitation on urea-$CaCl_2$ medium. Among 7 isolates, Arthrobacter nicotinovorans KNUC601, Microbacterium resistens KNUC602, Agrobacterium tumefaciens KNUC603, Exiguobacterium acetylicum KNUC604, and Bacillus thuringiensis KNUC606 showed a repairing of artificial forced cracks in cement-sand mortar. Compressive strength of cement-sand mortar consolidated with Stenotrophomonas maltophilia KNUC605 was increased around 14.07% compared with that of negative control.

• Smart Structures and Systems
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• v.31 no.4
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• pp.383-392
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• 2023

Post-earthquake building condition assessment is crucial for subsequent rescue and remediation and can be automated by emerging computer vision and deep learning technologies. This study is based on an endeavour for the 2nd International Competition of Structural Health Monitoring (IC-SHM 2021). The task package includes five image segmentation objectives - defects (crack/spall/rebar exposure), structural component, and damage state. The structural component and damage state tasks are identified as the priority that can form actionable decisions. A multi-task Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) is proposed to conduct the two major tasks simultaneously. The rest 3 sub-tasks (spall/crack/rebar exposure) were incorporated as auxiliary tasks. By synchronously learning defect information (spall/crack/rebar exposure), the multi-task CNN model outperforms the counterpart single-task models in recognizing structural components and estimating damage states. Particularly, the pixel-level damage state estimation witnesses a mIoU (mean intersection over union) improvement from 0.5855 to 0.6374. For the defect detection tasks, rebar exposure is omitted due to the extremely biased sample distribution. The segmentations of crack and spall are automated by single-task U-Net but with extra efforts to resample the provided data. The segmentation of small objects (spall and crack) benefits from the resampling method, with a substantial IoU increment of nearly 10%.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.7
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• pp.1015-1020
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• 2012

Antifungal cement mortar or microbiological calcium carbonate precipitation on cement surface has been investigated as functional concrete research. However, these research concepts have never been fused with each other. In this study, we introduced the antifungal calcite-forming bacteria (CFB) Bacillus aryabhattai KNUC205, isolated from an urban tunnel (Daegu, South Korea). The major fungal deteriogens in urban tunnel, Cladosporium sphaerospermum KNUC253, was used as a sensitive fungal strain. B. aryabhattai KNUC205 showed $CaCO_3$ precipitation on B4 medium. Cracked cement mortar pastes were made and neutralized by modified methods. Subsequently, the mixture of B. aryabhattai KNUC205, conidiospore of C. sphaerospermum KNUC253, and B4 agar was applied to cement cracks and incubated at $18^{\circ}C$ for 16 days. B. aryabhattai KNUC205 showed fungal growth inhibition against C. sphaerospermum. Furthermore, B. aryabhattai KNUC205 showed crack remediation ability and water permeability reduction of cement mortar pastes. Taken together, these results suggest that the $CaCO_3$ precipitation and antifungal properties of B. aryabhattai KNUC205 could be used as an effective sealing or coating material that can also prevent deteriorative fungal growth. This study is the first application and evaluation research that incorporates calcite formation with antifungal capabilities of microorganisms for an environment-friendly and more effective protection of cement materials. In this research, the conception of microbial construction materials was expanded.

• The Journal of Engineering Geology
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• v.33 no.3
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• pp.371-388
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• 2023

A stratum with a complex composition and a distributed low-permeability soil layer is difficult to remediate quickly because the soil remediation does not proceed easily. For efficient purification, the permeability should be improved and the soil remediation agent (H₂O₂) should be injected into the contaminated section to make sufficient contact with the TPH (Total petroleum hydrocarbons). This study analyzed a method for crack formation and effective delivery of the soil remediation agent based on pneumatic fracturing, plasma blasting, and vacuum suction (the PPV method) and compared its improvement effect relative to chemical oxidation. A demonstration test confirmed the effective delivery of the soil remediation agent to a site contaminated with TPH. The injection amount and injection time were monitored to calculate the delivery characteristics and the range of influence, and electrical resistivity surveying qualitatively confirmed changes in the underground environment. Permeability tests also evaluated and compared the permeability changes for each method. The amount of soil remediation agent injected was increased by about 4.74 to 7.48 times in the experimental group (PPV method) compared with the control group (chemical oxidation); the PPV method allowed injection rates per unit time (L/min) about 5.00 to 7.54 times quicker than the control method. Electrical resistivity measurements assessed that in the PPV method, the diffusion of H₂O₂2 and other fluids to the surface soil layer reduced the low resistivity change ratio: the horizontal change ratio between the injection well and the extraction well decreased the resistivity by about 1.12 to 2.38 times. Quantitative evaluation of hydraulic conductivity at the end of the test found that the control group had 21.1% of the original hydraulic conductivity and the experimental group retained 81.3% of the initial value, close to the initial permeability coefficient. Calculated radii of influence based on the survey results showed that the results of the PPV method were improved by 220% on average compared with those of the control group.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.20 no.11
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• pp.1571-1576
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• 2010

Two bacterial strains designated as CT2 and CT5 were isolated from highly alkaline cement samples using the enrichment culture technique. On the basis of various physiological tests and 16S rRNA sequence analysis, the bacteria were identified as Bacillus species. The urease production was 575.87 U/ml and 670.71 U/ml for CT2 and CT5, respectively. Calcite constituted 27.6% and 31% of the total weight of sand samples plugged by CT2 and CT5, respectively. Scanning electron micrography analysis revealed the direct involvement of these isolates in calcite precipitation. This is the first report of the isolation and identification of Bacillus species from cement. Based on the ability of these bacteria to tolerate the extreme environment of cement, they have potential to be used in remediating the cracks and fissures in various building or concrete structures.

• Journal of the Korea institute for structural maintenance and inspection
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.68-75
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• 2018

In this study, to solve the problems of the conventional crack repair and injection method, high elasticity latex was used as the material of the storage tube to withstand the high pressure in the center part differently from the general port. When the repair solution was injected into the crack part, The TPS method was developed so that the air existing in the TPS can be discharged. In addition, a new infusion port in which a valve blocking the backflow of the remediation solution was installed at the injection port was developed and the physical characteristics of the port were analyzed. As a result of the evaluation, it was found that the filling rate of the remedial solution was improved compared to the existing ordinary injector method, and the cracks were completely filled in the test conditions. Compressive strength and tensile strength after repair showed about 20% decrease after repair in case of using ordinary injector method, while TPS method showed about 2~7% increase after repair. The results of this study showed that the injection port method using the elastic storage tube increased the injection performance and the quality after repair compared to the conventional injector method. The result of this study is expected to be utilized as the basic data for application and commercialization of the result to the practical structure.

• Journal of Microbiology and Biotechnology
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• v.22 no.11
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• pp.1568-1574
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• 2012

Microbiological calcium carbonate precipitation (MCCP) has been investigated for its ability to improve the durability of cement mortar. However, very few strains have been applied to crack remediation and strengthening of cementitious materials. In this study, we report the biodeposition of Bacillus subtilis 168 and its ability to enhance the durability of cement material. B. subtilis 168 was applied to the surface of cement specimens. The results showed a new layer of deposited organic-inorganic composites on the surface of the cement paste. In addition, the water permeability of the cement paste treated with B. subtilis 168 was lower than that of non-treated specimens. Furthermore, artificial cracks in the cement paste were completely remediated by the biodeposition of B. subtilis 168. The compressive strength of cement mortar treated with B. subtilis 168 increased by about 19.5% when compared with samples completed with only B4 medium. Taken together, these findings suggest that the biodeposition of B. subtilis 168 could be used as a sealing and coating agent to improve the strength and water resistance of concrete. This is the first paper to report the application of Bacillus subtilis 168 for its ability to improve the durability of cement mortar through calcium carbonate precipitation.

• Microbiology and Biotechnology Letters
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• v.40 no.3
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• pp.169-179
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• 2012

Microbiological calcium carbonate precipitation (MCCP) is being applied for the aesthetic restoration of cement buildings destroyed by biochemical processes and to block water penetration into the cement's inner structure. After determining the advantages of this technique, many related studies in the area of architecture concerning the application of microorganisms to improve construction material have been reported in both America and Europe. The techniques compatibility with cement material is especially interesting because of the needed screening of various calcium carbonate forming-bacteria and the required development of their application methods. The purpose of this review is to describe the mechanism of MCCP and related researches with eco-friendly construction materials. Mainly, we describe the methodological studies focused on biodeposition on the surface of building materials and the research trends concerning the addition of microorganisms to improve the durability of cement structures. Additionally, the concepts and technical aspects focused on the development of self-healing smart concrete, with the use of multi-functional bacteria, have been considered.