Review on biopolymer-based soil treatment (BPST) technology in geotechnical engineering practices

Chang, Ilhan; Lee, Minhyung; Tran, Thi Phuong An; Lee, Sojeong; Kwon, Yeong-Man; Im, Jooyoung; Cho, Gye-Chun

doi:10.1016/j.trgeo.2020.100385

Cited by 185 publications

(72 citation statements)

References 174 publications

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“…For those natural soils that have insufficient mechanical strength, soil treatment is often employed [1][2][3][4][5][6][7]. Recently, the incorporation of biopolymers into soil stabilisation has gained increasing credence in sustainable geotechnical engineering for their environmental benefits [8][9][10][11], high strengthening efficiency [12][13][14], abundance in nature [15][16][17], suitable functional properties such as pH stability and ionic salt compatibility [18][19][20] and reasonable prices [8,21,22]. Selected polysaccharide biopolymers (e.g., xanthan gum, agar gum, gellan gum, chitosan, beta-glucan, starch, guar gum and carrageenan) have proved their potential in improving the soil performances under external loads in terms of unconfined compression, triaxial compression, direct shear, interface shear, tension, three-point bending and split [20,[23][24][25][26][27][28][29][30][31][32][33][34].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Optimisation Analysis of Sand-Clay Mixtures Stabilised with Xanthan Gum Biopolymers

Hao

Chen

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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Sand–clay mixtures can be encountered in both natural soils (e.g., residual soils, clay deposits and clinosols) and artificial fills. The method of utilising biopolymers in ground improvement for sand–clay mixtures has emerged recently. However, a full understanding of the strengthening effect of biopolymer-treated sand–clay mixtures has not yet been achieved due to a limited number of relevant studies. In this study, xanthan gum (XG), as one of the eco-friendly biopolymers, was used to treat reconstituted sand–clay mixtures that had various compositions in related to clay (or sand) content and clay type (kaolin and bentonite). A series of laboratory unconfined compression strength (UCS) tests were conducted to probe the performances of XG-treated sand–clay mixtures from two aspects, i.e., optimum treatment conditions (e.g., XG content and initial moisture content) to achieve the maximum strengthening effect and strengthening efficiency for the sand–clay mixtures with different compositions. The experimental results indicated that the optimum initial moisture content decreased as the sand content increased. The optimum XG content, which also decreased with the increasing sand content, remained approximately 3.75% for all sand–kaolin mixtures and 5.75% for all sand–bentonite mixtures if calculated based on clay fraction. While untreated sand–kaolin mixtures and sand–bentonite mixtures had comparable UCS values, XG-treated sand–kaolin mixtures seemed to have better improved mechanical strength due to higher ionic (or hydrogen) bonds with XG and low-swelling properties compared with bentonite. The deformation modulus of XG-treated sand–clay mixtures were positively related with UCS. The variation in UCS and stiffness for each treatment condition increased as the sand content was elevated for both sand-kaolin and sand-bentonite mixtures. An increment in the proportion of the heterogeneous composite formed by irregular sand particles conglomerated with the XG–clay matrix in total soil might be responsible for this phenomenon.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Optimisation Analysis of Sand-Clay Mixtures Stabilised with Xanthan Gum Biopolymers

Hao

Chen

et al. 2021

Sustainability

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“…The introduction of these agents to the soil-GR–water complex results in the formation and propagation of a series of short- and long-term chemical reactions, which encourage flocculation of the soil and soil-GR constituents, thereby leading to major improvements in composite stiffness and shear strength [ 22 , 24 , 27 , 28 , 29 ]. It is well accepted that cementitious binders, even though effective in terms of stabilization, are generally not environmentally sustainable, since their application is often accompanied by significant energy and carbon emissions footprints [ 30 , 31 , 32 ]. This drawback alone highlights the urgency of minimizing the use of these binders in practice.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Much like traditional cementitious binders, the introduction of polymers to the soil–water medium can encourage flocculation of the clay particles through various clay–polymer interaction mechanisms—that is, van der Waals or hydrogen bonding, charge neutralization (by way of electrostatic attraction) and cationic bridging for neutral, cationic and anionic polymers, respectively [ 42 , 43 , 44 , 45 ]. Among the multitude of commercially available polymer-based soil stabilizers, those derived from natural resources, commonly referred to as biopolymers, appear to possess a variety of promising soil-amendment features while outperforming synthetic variants in terms of sustainability, hence demanding further attention [ 32 ]. Sodium alginate (SA) is a water-soluble, linear polysaccharide derived from brown algae; it consists of two linked anionic monomers—that is, β -D-mannuronic acid (M) and α -L-guluronic acid (G) residues [ 46 , 47 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Improved Shear Strength Performance of Compacted Rubberized Clays Treated with Sodium Alginate Biopolymer

et al. 2021

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This study examines the potential use of sodium alginate (SA) biopolymer as an environmentally sustainable agent for the stabilization of rubberized soil blends prepared using a high plasticity clay soil and tire-derived ground rubber (GR). The experimental program consisted of uniaxial compression and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) tests; the former was performed on three soil–GR blends (with GR-to-soil mass ratios of 0%, 5% and 10%) compacted (and cured for 1, 4, 7 and 14 d) employing distilled water and three SA solutions—prepared at SA-to-water (mass-to-volume) dosage ratios of 5, 10 and 15 g/L—as the compaction liquid. For any given GR content, the greater the SA dosage and/or the longer the curing duration, the higher the uniaxial compressive strength (UCS), with only minor added benefits beyond seven days of curing. This behaviour was attributed to the formation and propagation of so-called “cationic bridges” (developed as a result of a “Ca2+/Mg2+ ⟷ Na+ cation exchange/substitution” process among the clay and SA components) between adjacent clay surfaces over time, inducing flocculation of the clay particles. This clay amending mechanism was further verified by means of representative SEM images. Finally, the addition of (and content increase in) GR—which translates to partially replacing the soil clay content with GR particles and hence reducing the number of available attraction sites for the SA molecules to form additional cationic bridges—was found to moderately offset the efficiency of SA treatment.

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“…The effectiveness of soil improvement depends on many factors, such as properties of the sand and the additive, field application method, environmental concerns, and economic feasibility. Recently, it is strongly encouraged to reduce the carbon dioxide footprint in geotechnical engineering practices [2,3]. The utilization of waste material as an additive to improve the mechanical behavior of dune sand is expected to be an optimistic approach to reduce the carbon footprint associated with the processing of natural resources.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Use of Reservoir Sediments to Improve Engineering Properties of Dune Sand in Oman

et al. 2021

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Managing sediments dredged from reservoirs of recharge dams is an environmental issue, however, these sediments can be an abundant and economical source of fine-grained fill soil. This experimental investigation quantifies the geotechnical properties of a reservoir sediment used to improve engineering properties of a poorly graded dune sand in Oman. The binary mixes were prepared with different percentages (5, 10, 20, 50, 75, 90, 95%) of sediment with sand. Laboratory tests such as gradation, consistency limits, compaction, and unconfined compression tests were performed to measure the engineering characteristics of the binary mixtures. The results showed that the maximum dry density increases up to a sediment content of 50% and then decreases with further increase in the sediment content. The optimum water content increases with the increase in sediment content from 17% for pure sand to 22.5% for pure sediment. The optimum moisture content shows a good correlation with the plastic limit of the binary mixture of sand and sediment. The unconfined compressive strength substantially increases with sediment content up to 75% and then decreases with further increase in the sediment content. The binary mixture of sand sediment is sensitive to moisture, however, the order of strength stability against moisture is dune sand mixed with 75, 50, and 20% sediments. The addition of sediment to dune sand improved the uniformity coefficient to some extent with an increase in the maximum and minimum void ratios as well. The elemental analysis of the sediment confirms that the material is non-contaminated and can be employed in geotechnical engineering applications as a sustainable and environmentally friendly solution.

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Review on biopolymer-based soil treatment (BPST) technology in geotechnical engineering practices

Cited by 185 publications

References 174 publications

The Optimisation Analysis of Sand-Clay Mixtures Stabilised with Xanthan Gum Biopolymers

The Optimisation Analysis of Sand-Clay Mixtures Stabilised with Xanthan Gum Biopolymers

Improved Shear Strength Performance of Compacted Rubberized Clays Treated with Sodium Alginate Biopolymer

Use of Reservoir Sediments to Improve Engineering Properties of Dune Sand in Oman

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