Advances and Future Developments of Construction Biotechnology

Abstract

Current status for biotechnological construction materials is as follows: (1) admixtures for cement are produced commercially, used widely in practice, and new biotechnological admixtures are developing for industrial use; (2) bioplastic PLA is produced industrially, but construction applications are still in development because of relatively high cost of this bioplastic; (3) bioplastic PHAs are still developing in the pilot scale for industrial production and applications; (4) biotechnological nanomaterials for construction are still studied in laboratory scale; (5) biotechnological preservatives for timber are still studied and tested in pilot scale; (6) different types of biocements and biogrouts are tested in laboratory and pilot scale; (7) biogrouts for soil desaturation and mitigation of soil liquefaction are still in the stages of laboratory studies and pilot tests. New products and applications of construction biotechnology could be developed and used in practice: (1) environmentally safe and low cost biogrouts for bioclogging of the tunneling space before or after excavation; (2) environmentally safe and low cost biogrouts for bioclogging of aquaculture ponds, water reservoirs, channels, landfills, soil-polluted sites; (3) commercially available bioimmobilizers of arid desert sand surface, for dust and soil surface pollutants control, and soil erosion control; (4) commercially available biocoating materials and acceptable technologies of their application; (5) commercially available biogrouts and technologies of their application for partial soil desaturation and mitigation of soil liquefaction; (6) development of low cost biocements producing low brittleness cemented materials; (7) low cost admixture to cement from sewage sludge or activated sludge of municipal wastewater treatment plants; (8) environmentally safe and low cost production of biocements and biogrouts from limestone, dolomite, cement dust, and other cement-related materials on the cement plants; (9) development of biomimetic, 3D composite biotechnological construction materials; and many other materials, technologies, and their applications.