• HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
Wednesday, June 18, 2025
BIOENGINEER.ORG
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
  • HOME
  • NEWS
  • EXPLORE
    • CAREER
      • Companies
      • Jobs
        • Lecturer
        • PhD Studentship
        • Postdoc
        • Research Assistant
    • EVENTS
    • iGEM
      • News
      • Team
    • PHOTOS
    • VIDEO
    • WIKI
  • BLOG
  • COMMUNITY
    • FACEBOOK
    • INSTAGRAM
    • TWITTER
No Result
View All Result
Bioengineer.org
No Result
View All Result
Home NEWS Science News Chemistry

Sandcastle worm nests inspire new low-carbon building materials

Bioengineer by Bioengineer
September 28, 2023
in Chemistry
Reading Time: 2 mins read
0
ADVERTISEMENT
Share on FacebookShare on TwitterShare on LinkedinShare on RedditShare on Telegram

Sandcastle worms are marine creatures about two inches long that build huge colonies of honeycombed, reef-like structures by cementing sand grains together. 

Sandcastle Worm Nests Inspire New Low-carbon Building Materials

Credit: TIPC

Sandcastle worms are marine creatures about two inches long that build huge colonies of honeycombed, reef-like structures by cementing sand grains together. 

Inspired by these structures, a research team led by Prof. WANG Shutao from the Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry (TIPC) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed natural-based, low-carbon building materials for use in the next generation of low-carbon construction. 

The study was published in Matter on Sept. 20. 

Low-carbon building materials are urgently needed due to the massive energy consumption and carbon emissions associated with traditional cement-based building materials.  

Typically, various adhesives such as geopolymers, resins, and high-pressure-induced adhesives are used as cement substitutes to produce low-carbon building materials. Compared with these binders, natural-based adhesives are promising due to the renewability and eco-friendliness of bioresources. 

Considerable research efforts have been made to bind grains using bio-polymers as adhesives or bio-mineralization approaches. Due to the weak mechanical properties of these grain aggregates, however, practical construction limitations still exist.  

Looking at nature, the researchers found that sandcastle worms build strong colonial sandcastles as their nests along the coastlines by binding various grains such as sand and shell pieces. 

The researchers realized that the composite adhesive secreted by the sandcastle worms was key to this structure. The adhesive contains both cationic proteins and anionic proteins, thus allowing it to firmly bind grains together. 

By mimicking this process, the researchers fabricated colonial sandcastle-inspired, low-carbon building materials with good mechanical performance. Using oppositely charged bio-polymer adhesives, these natural-based low-carbon building materials can be constructed from various grains (e.g., desert sand, sea sand, concrete slag, etc.) under low temperature and atmospheric pressure. 

This study offers a promising way to accelerate the transformation of the construction industry by decreasing energy consumption and carbon emissions. 

This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the International Partnership Program of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. 



Journal

Matter

DOI

10.1016/j.matt.2023.08.023

Method of Research

Experimental study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

Colonial sandcastle-inspired low-carbon building materials

Article Publication Date

20-Sep-2023

Share12Tweet8Share2ShareShareShare2

Related Posts

Use of Potassium Fluoride to Synthesize a New Fluorinating Reagent

Green Chemistry Breakthrough: Creating Fluorine Complexes from Common Fluoride Salts

June 18, 2025
Modeling asymmetric fission of mercury isotopes

Enhancing Nuclear Fission Models for Light Sub-Lead Nuclei

June 18, 2025

Cracking the Code: Using Physics to Encode Messages in Ice

June 18, 2025

Exploring New Frontiers in Data-Driven Materials Research

June 18, 2025

POPULAR NEWS

  • Green brake lights in the front could reduce accidents

    Study from TU Graz Reveals Front Brake Lights Could Drastically Diminish Road Accident Rates

    161 shares
    Share 64 Tweet 40
  • New Study Uncovers Unexpected Side Effects of High-Dose Radiation Therapy

    76 shares
    Share 30 Tweet 19
  • Pancreatic Cancer Vaccines Eradicate Disease in Preclinical Studies

    71 shares
    Share 28 Tweet 18
  • How Scientists Unraveled the Mystery Behind the Gigantic Size of Extinct Ground Sloths—and What Led to Their Demise

    65 shares
    Share 26 Tweet 16

About

We bring you the latest biotechnology news from best research centers and universities around the world. Check our website.

Follow us

Recent News

Breakthrough: CAR T-Cell Therapy Successfully Treats Severe Polyneuritis

How Tiny Particles Become Toxic Within Plants

Green Chemistry Breakthrough: Creating Fluorine Complexes from Common Fluoride Salts

  • Contact Us

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • Homepages
    • Home Page 1
    • Home Page 2
  • News
  • National
  • Business
  • Health
  • Lifestyle
  • Science

Bioengineer.org © Copyright 2023 All Rights Reserved.