Whey as an Alternative Nutrient Medium for Growth of Sporosarcina pasteurii and Its Effect on CaCO3 Polymorphism and Fly Ash Bioconsolidation

Abstract

Whey in large quantities can cause environmental problems when discarded, because it reduces dissolved oxygen and aquatic life. Nonetheless, it could be used as an easily available and economical alternative to reduce culture medium costs in microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP). In this work, a native Sporosarcina pasteurii was isolated and then cultured by using different proportions of whey (W) in nutrient broth (NB). The solids were characterized by XRD, FT-IR, TGA, and SEM. The potential applications in bioconsolidation were also studied. Whey concentration was directly related to CaCO3 production. Higher whey concentrations reduced calcium carbonate purity to nearly 80%. All experiments showed calcite and vaterite fractions, where a whey increment in the media increased calcite content and decreased vaterite content, causing a decrease in crystal size. MICP improved compressive strength (CS) in sand and fly ash. The best CS results were obtained by fly ash treated with 25 W-75 NB (37.2 kPa) and sand with 75 W-25 NB (32.1 kPa). Whey changed crystal polymorphism in biogenic CaCO3 production. Material bioconsolidation depends on the CaCO3 polymorph, thus fly ash was effectively bioconsolidated by crystallization of vaterite and sand by crystallization of calcite.

Soil microbial improvement using enriched vinasse as a new abundant waste

“…Previous research has also shown the positive effects of industrial urea and dairy by-products on the bacterium's urease activity. [40,54,55].…”

Biomineralization Induced by Cells of Sporosarcina pasteurii: Mechanisms, Applications and Challenges

“…Fortunately, several costeffective alternatives were discovered and analysed. As a nutrient source, some waste products of the food industry are suitable substitutes typically found at a bargain price and in large amounts, including whey powder from cheese production [98,99], lactose from the dairy industry [100] and corn steep liquor from corn starch processing [101]. Additionally, chicken manure was also utilized as a cultivation medium for S. pasteurii cells [102].…”

Correction: Chaparro et al. Whey as an Alternative Nutrient Medium for Growth of Sporosarcina pasteurii and Its Effect on CaCO3 Polymorphism and Fly Ash Bioconsolidation. Materials 2021, 14, 2470

“…The Editorial Office was made aware of an error in Figure S1 within the original publication [ 1 ]. In addition to the corrected figure, the authors have provided raw data that were presented to an Academic Editor for evaluation.…”