Effect of soil surface characteristics on denitrification activity and induced calcium carbonate precipitation on the surface

1. Home
2. Publications
3. Online Library
4. Effect of soil surface characteristics on denitrification activity and induced calcium carbonate precipitation on the surface

Soil microorganisms in nature are known to be adhering to any surface and forming aggregates of the cells on the surface. It is said that almost 8090% of the microorganisms in soil and water are attached to solid surfaces, rather than being free-living cells in aqueous phase. This study evaluated soil surface characteristics contributing to microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation known as MICP by denitrification. Compared to artificial silica sand, microbial denitrification activity tended to be accelerated in the presence of natural sand, suggesting that the presence of impurities other than quartz contributed to microbial activity. Microbial metabolic reactions that accelerate crystal nucleation play an important role in calcium carbonate crystal formation. And, the microbial cells activate their metabolism by settling on the particle surface, which is the foundation for nucleation. The fixation of the microbial cells to the soil particles is selective, and the molecular structure and surface charge properties of the particle are expected to contribute to the selective fixation. Soil particle coating with ferrihydrite, an amorphous iron hydroxide is expected to promote the attachment of microorganisms to the particle surface and calcium carbonate crystal formation on the surface.

9th International Congress on Environmental Geotechnics (ICEG2023)

Biogeotechnics and Bioremediation