A self-healing enzymatic construction material

Concrete is one of the main contributors to global CO2 emission, and efforts to find an alternative to concrete have not been fully successful. Inspired by the process of CO2 exchange in biological cells, this paper introduces a novel method to create a negative-emission enzymatic construction material (ECM) with self-healing capabilities. The concept proposed in this paper uses carbonic anhydrase (CA) to catalyze the condensation of CO2 and water to promote the precipitation of calcium ions in the aqueous solution as calcium carbonate crystals. The resulting ECM has compressive strength and Young's modulus more than twice that of the minimum acceptable for cement mortar and other alternative building materials. The strengthening mechanism through the growth of mineral bridges that hold the sand particles in the structure of ECM is also modeled and studied. This report provides a new path for development of environmentally friendly construction materials with low cost.

Automated summary

This paper introduces a novel method to create a negative-emission enzymatic construction material (ECM) with self-healing capabilities, by catalyzing the condensation of CO2 and water to form calcium carbonate crystals. The resulting ECM has high strength and modulus, providing a new direction for developing environmentally friendly and low-cost construction materials.