An anionic biopolymer γ-polyglutamate enhanced the microbially induced carbonate precipitation for soil improvement: mechanical behaviors and underlying mechanism

The use of biopolymer to improve the performance of microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP)-treated sands is a novel and eco-friendly concept. This work found an anionic biopolymer, γ-polyglutamate (γ-PGA), could significantly improve the performance of MICP-treated sands. Comparing the control with absence of γ-PGA, the concentration of 0.1–9 g/L γ-PGA increased the compressive strength of MICP-treated sands by 1.54–3.96 times and significantly reduced the brittleness. The MICP process analysis and microstructural detection demonstrated that γ-PGA in the specimens provided many nucleation sites and templates for calcite generation, partially kept the bacterial urease activity by replacement of the bacteria as nucleation sites, thereby improving the calcite generation. The γ-PGA also cemented sand grains with calcite through the hydrogen bond-type intermolecular interactions. Both the calcite generation and the hydrogen bond-type intermolecular interactions by γ-PGA played vital roles in enhancing MICP for soil improvement. Additionally, γ-PGA, as a viscoelastic admixture between the crystals and sand grains, effectively dissipated the energy of stress and thus reduced the brittleness of MICP-treated sands. This is the first report on the application of anionic biopolymer to MICP technology. It provides a novel concept in promoting the efficiency and sustainability of MICP.