Characterisation of CaCO3 phases during strain-specific ureolytic precipitation

Clarà Saracho, Alexandra and Haigh, Stuart K. and Hata, Toshiro and Soga, Kenichi and Farsang, Stefan and Redfern, Simon A. T. and Marek, Ewa (2020) Characterisation of CaCO3 phases during strain-specific ureolytic precipitation. Scientific Reports, 10 (1). ISSN 2045-2322 DOI https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66831-y

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Abstract

Numerous microbial species can selectively precipitate mineral carbonates with enhanced mechanical properties, however, understanding exactly how they achieve this control represents a major challenge in the field of biomineralisation. We have studied microbial induced calcium carbonate (CaCO3) precipitation (MICP) in three ureolytic bacterial strains from the Sporosarcina family, including S. newyorkensis, a newly isolated microbe from the deep sea. We find that the interplay between structural water and strain-specific amino acid groups is fundamental to the stabilisation of vaterite and that, under the same conditions, different isolates yield distinctly different polymorphs. The latter is found to be associated with different urease activities and, consequently, precipitation kinetics, which change depending on pressure-temperature conditions. Further, CaCO3 polymorph selection also depends on the coupled effect of chemical treatment and initial bacterial concentrations. Our findings provide new insights into strain-specific CaCO3 polymorphic selection and stabilisation, and open up promising avenues for designing bio-reinforced geo-materials that capitalise on the different particle bond mechanical properties offered by different polymorphs.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	2020AREP; IA76
Subjects:	03 - Mineral Sciences
Divisions:	03 - Mineral Sciences 07 - Gold Open Access 12 - PhD
Journal or Publication Title:	Scientific Reports
Volume:	10
Identification Number:	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-020-66831-y
Depositing User:	Sarah Humbert
Date Deposited:	12 Aug 2020 21:09
Last Modified:	12 Aug 2020 21:09
URI:	http://eprints.esc.cam.ac.uk/id/eprint/4858

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