Collaborative Bio-Technology Leads to Self-Repairing Concrete

Corbion, a leading food ingredient and bio-based chemicals company, has announced the commercial launch of SENTIALL^®, a versatile co-polymer platform that delivers specific, high-value functionalities such as adhesion or controlled release in a range of industries and applications. One of the first successful applications of SENTIALL relates to the project with Green-Basilisk, a spin-out of Delft University of Technology, which collaborated with Corbion in the development of a self-healing concrete.

A team at TU Delft found an innovative way to manufacture bacteria that, when exposed to oxygen and water, would fill cracks by converting substrates into limestone. By repairing cracks automatically, the durability of concrete structures can be greatly improved while reducing costly maintenance and repair. Corbion provided a key component of the self-healing mechanism that releases the substrate when a crack occurs without affecting the setting time or the strength of the concrete.

“SENTIALL technology offers game-changing functionality in a number of industries,” said Frederik Feddes, vice president Biochemicals at Corbion. “Our collaboration with TU Delft in the development of an enormously important innovation like self-healing concrete shows the kind of innovation this platform makes possible.

“The solutions that offer the greatest value come to fruition when key players from different disciplines come together, share ideas, learnings and insights. At Corbion, we co-create with experts in pharmaceutical, biomedical, agrochemical, cosmetics and household applications,” Feddes added. “We believe this kind of co-creation is what will help us tackle today’s challenges in ways that consider our collective future and deliver lasting value.