Microbiologically induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is a well-known biogeochemical process that allows the formation of calcium carbonate deposits in the extracellular environment. The high concentration of carbonate and calcium ions on the bacterial surface, which serves as nucleation sites, promotes the calcium carbonate precipitation filling and binding deteriorated materials. Historic buildings and artwork, especially those present in open sites, are susceptible to enhanced weathering resulting from environmental agents, interaction with physical-chemical pollutants, and living organisms, among others. In this work, some published variations of a novel and ecological surface treatment of heritage structures based on MICP are presented and compared. This method has shown to be successful as a restoration, consolidation, and conservation tool for improvement of mechanical properties and prevention of unwanted gas and fluid migration from historical materials. The treatment has revealed best results on porous media matrixes; nevertheless, it can also be applied on soil, marble, concrete, clay, rocks, and limestone. MICP is proposed as a potentially safe and powerful procedure for efficient conservation of worldwide heritage structures.

En los últimos años, la precipitación de carbonatos inducida microbiológicamente ha demostrado ser una potencial herramienta de restauración de piezas arquitectónicas y esculturas alrededor del mundo con buenos resultados a corto y largo plazo. En este trabajo se realizaron incubaciones partiendo de cepas bacterianas locales de Bacillus subtilis previamente aisladas e identificadas para comprobar la capacidad de estas cepas bacterianas en la producción de carbonato de calcio sobre muestras de roca carbonática. Los cristales obtenidos fueron analizados a través de FT-IR, SEM-EDS y DRX. Los resultados muestran la formación de películas estables de bioprecipitado de calcita, el polimorfo más estable de carbonato de calcio, sobre las muestras de rocas demostrando así la posibilidad de utilizar cepas no patogénicas y medios económicos para restaurar, prevenir o disminuir el futuro deterioro del patrimonio cultural.