In infrastructure, it all comes down to concrete—it is, after all, the world’s most commonly used construction material. What if all that concrete could fix it when cracks form? It might sound crazy, but the Romans used self-healing concrete more than two millennia ago, and modern-day scientists are finding ways to do the same. One approach relies on limestone-producing bacteria. And materials scientists at Rutgers University are using a limestone-producing fungus called Trichoderma Reesei as a concrete admixture that will fix fine cracks as they form.
More than 2000 years ago, the Roman Empire invented a unique marine concrete that allowed for the construction of enormous, durable structures – even underwater. Incredibly, the exact chemical properties of this concrete mixture have eluded scientists to this day – but now, researchers from the University of Utah believe they may have finally cracked the code.
According to the findings in the journal American Mineralogist, the secret lies in the chemical properties of two of the mixture’s components: lime and volcanic ash, which contained a rare mineral known as Aluminum Tobermorite. When exposed to sea water, the substance would crystallize in the lime while curing. Rather than be eroded by the water, its presence actually gave the material additional strength.
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