Self-healing concrete holds promising benefits to reduce the cost for concrete maintenance and repair as cracks are autonomously repaired without any human intervention. In this study, the application of a carbonate precipitating bacterium Bacillus sphaericus was explored. Regarding the harsh condition in concrete, B. sphaericus spores were first encapsulated into a modified-alginate based hydr...

We investigate variability in the surface ocean carbonate ion concentration ([CO 3 ]) on the basis of a long control simulation with an Earth System Model. The simulation is run with a prescribed, pre-industrial atmospheric CO2 concentration for 1000 years, permitting investigation of natural [CO 3 ] variability on interannual to multi-decadal timescales. We find high interannual variability in...

Neutron diffraction with isotopic substitution (NDIS) experiments and molecular dynamics (MD) simulations have been used to characterize the structure of aqueous guanidinium carbonate (Gdm2CO3) solutions. The MD simulations found very strong hetero-ion pairing in Gdm2CO3 solution and were used to determine the best structural experiment to demonstrate this ion pairing. The NDIS experiments conf...

Characterised by long term cooling and abrupt ice sheet expansion on Antarctica ~14 Ma ago, the mid Miocene marked the beginning of the modern ice-house world, yet there is still little consensus on its causes, in part because carbon cycle dynamics are not well constrained. In particular, changes in carbonate ion concentration ([CO3(2-)]) in the ocean, the largest carbon reservoir of the ocean-...

Nanobacteria-like objects evidenced at the surface of the orthopyroxenes of the Tataouine meteorite in South Tunisia have been studied by scanning and transmission electron microscopies. A method of micromanipulation has been developed to ensure that exactly the same objects were studied by both methods. We have shown that the nanobacteria-like objects are spatially correlated with filaments of...

In this study a three-phase homogeneous model was developed to simulate the performance of the molten carbonate fuel cell ~MCFC! cathode. The homogeneous model is based on volume averaging of different variables in the three phases over a small volume element. This approach can be used to model porous electrodes as it represents the real system much better than the conventional agglomerate mode...

tion state of the world’s oceans are changing as a result of the addition of fossil fuel CO2 to the atmosphere (Kleypas et al. 1999; Feely et al. 2004; Orr et al. 2005). The pH of surface oceans has dropped by 0.1 units since the industrial revolution and if fossil fuel combustion continues at present rates, the pH of the world’s oceans will probably drop another 0.3 to 0.4 units by 2100 (Mehrb...