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Open research questions in Microbial Applications in Construction Materials

132 gap statements mined from Microbial Applications in Construction Materials papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 1,173 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • Lack of standardized evaluation methods for self-healing efficiency. Limited quantitative understanding of the relationship between crack width, healing kinetics, and bacterial strain. Insufficient long-term repeated loading, cyclic damage, and field-scale validation.

    Bacterial self-healing concrete: linking mechanisms and influencing factors to crack width and healing efficiency · 2026 · DOI

  • The lack of understanding of the effects of salt and copper stresses on nitrogen metabolism in urease-null soybean mutants. The need to investigate the impacts of these stresses on antioxidant responses and arginine pathway genes in plants.

    Urease-null soybean (eu3-a) under salt and copper stress: nitrogen metabolism, antioxidant defense, and arginine pathway genes · 2026 · DOI

  • The need for a comprehensive understanding of MICP mechanisms and applications. The lack of a systematic analysis of research trends and hotspots in biomineralization and calcium carbonate studies.

    Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP): Bibliometric Analysis, Research Hotspot Evolution, and Mechanistic Insights (2005–2024) · 2025 · DOI

  • The need for stabilizing soft soil to improve its engineering properties and ensure its capability for highway foundations. The lack of effective and environmentally friendly stabilizing agents for soft soil.

    Characterization of the Mechanical Behavior and Stabilization Mechanism of Soft Soil Treated with Xanthan Gum Biopolymer · 2025 · DOI

  • Traditional methods of treating landfill leachate do not always entirely remove dissolved contaminants. There is a need for effective methods for soil stabilization and heavy metal remediation. The use of MICP for soil improvement and heavy metal remediation is a relatively new area of research.

    Enhanced MICP for Soil Improvement and Heavy Metal Remediation: Insights from Landfill Leachate-Derived Ureolytic Bacterial Consortium · 2025 · DOI

  • It highlights the need for biosafety, with the introduction of live microorganisms into the built environment raising ecological, occupational, and public health considerations. The paper also identifies the challenge of regulatory challenges, with the need for cost-benefit analyses to evaluate bacterial systems.

    Construction Biotechnology: Integrating Bacterial Systems into Civil Engineering Practices · 2025 · DOI

  • Lack of knowledge on the feasibility of MICP in limestone mines. Limited understanding of the ability of ureolytic bacteria to induce MICP at low temperatures.

    Characterization of Indigenous Bacteria for Microbially Induced Carbonate Precipitation in a Limestone Mine · 2025 · DOI

  • The synthesis shows that the current evidence is mostly OPC-centric, while geopolymer applications are still limited in number and have not long-term tested for durability, standardized testing methods are unavailable, and the field-scale validation of these materials is lacking.

    Advances in Self-Healing Ordinary Portland and Geopolymer Cement Systems: A Comprehensive Review of Stimuli-Responsive Polymer Mechanisms and Performance · 2026 · DOI

  • A key limitation of the enzyme induced calcium carbonate precipitation (EICP) process is the lack of effective nucleation sites, which often results in insufficient CaCO 3 precipitation, thereby weakening the bio-cementation of EICP solidified sands.

    Extracellular polymeric substance-immobilized enzyme: Nucleation characteristics and sand solidification performance · 2026 · DOI

  • However, real-time precipitation patterns and clogging behavior of EICP under varying fracture and flow conditions remain poorly understood.

    Visualizing enzyme-induced mineralization in fractures · 2025 · DOI

  • In particular, balancing the rapid formation of calcium carbonate (CaCO 3) with the need to avoid clogging during biogrout injection is critical but not yet fully understood.

    Biogrouting for seepage control in rock fractures using on-site bioslurry formation method · 2025 · DOI

  • Although numerous experiments have been conducted to solidify sand foundations using MICP, the mechanisms by which grain interfacial morphologies influence the MICP process remain unclear.

    Effects of grain interfacial morphologies on microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation process: Experimental evidence and numerical analysis · 2025 · DOI

  • The influences of biological, chemical, and flow processes on soil structure through microbial-induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) are not yet fully understood.

    Quantitatively characterizing sandy soil structure altered by MICP using multi-level thresholding segmentation algorithm · 2024 · DOI

  • However, the efficiency of MICP-treated sand has not been well established in the literature considering cyclic loading under undrained conditions.

    Effects of bacterial strains on undrained cyclic behavior of bio-cemented sand considering wetting and drying cycles · 2024 · DOI

  • The feasibility of using MICP in demanding conditions, such as the soil around piles in shallow seabeds during winter, known for their elevated salinity, diminished oxygen, and lowered temperature, remains uncertain due to limited research in this area.

    Efficiency and Characteristics of MICP in Environments with Elevated Salinity, Diminished Oxygen, and Lowered Temperature: A Microfluidics Investigation · 2024 · DOI

  • However, the current understanding of bacterial behavior and the characteristics of CaCO3 precipitates under the influence of direct current (DC) electric fields remains unclear.

    Regulating the Process of Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation through Applied Electric Fields: Evidence and Insights Using Microfluidics · 2024 · DOI

  • Microbially induced calcite precipitation (MICP) offers a sustainable ground-improvement alternative, yet its effect on the seismic behavior of inclined liquefiable sandy ground remains inadequately investigated.

    Shaking table study of dynamic response of biotreated liquefiable sandy ground with varying slopes · 2026 · DOI

  • From the results obtained in this research work, it is recommended that 75 % B. brevis – 25 % Cementation reagent mix ratio be used for the upgrading of the index properties and calcite contents of lateritic soil as a subgrade material in the erection of low-volume roads.

    Effect of Mode of Treatment of Brevibacillus Brevis on Plasticity Characteristics of Bio-Treated Lateritic Soil in Microbial-Induced Calcite Precipitation Application · 2026 · DOI

  • Predictive models linking crack width, healing kinetics, bacterial strain, carrier type, SCM dosage, porosity and curing conditions, - Investigation of bacterial viability, healing durability and structural performance under realistic exposures, - Study of the interaction of bacteria with SCMs, fibers…

    Bacterial self-healing concrete: linking mechanisms and influencing factors to crack width and healing efficiency · 2026 · DOI

  • Investigating the long-term durability performance beyond ten cycles. Examining the effects of xanthan gum on soft soil under different environmental conditions.

    Characterization of the Mechanical Behavior and Stabilization Mechanism of Soft Soil Treated with Xanthan Gum Biopolymer · 2025 · DOI

  • Investigating the long-term effects of MICP on soil stability, - Comparing MICP to other soil stabilization methods, - Studying the effects of MICP on different types…

    Enhanced MICP for Soil Improvement and Heavy Metal Remediation: Insights from Landfill Leachate-Derived Ureolytic Bacterial Consortium · 2025 · DOI

  • The hypersaline conditions of seawater and alkaline environments within concrete cracks, - The need for microorganisms to survive in high-saline-alkali environments, - The challenge of achieving efficient mineralization in concrete crack…

    Adaptive Evolution of Sporosarcina pasteurii Enhances Saline–Alkali Resistance for High-Performance Concrete Crack Repair via MICP · 2025 · DOI

  • The lack of microorganisms capable of surviving in high-saline-alkali environments, - The need for efficient mineralization in concrete crack remediation, - The limited understanding of the genetic mechanisms underlying microbial tolerance to saline-alkali…

    Adaptive Evolution of Sporosarcina pasteurii Enhances Saline–Alkali Resistance for High-Performance Concrete Crack Repair via MICP · 2025 · DOI

  • The study only considers one type of sand, - The study only considers one type of biopolymer (GG), - The study has a limited number of specimens (108), - The curing periods are limited to 28 and 90…

    Mechanical and Microstructural Comparison of Improved Sand with Guar Gum and Cement · 2026 · DOI

  • Investigate the effect of different types of biopolymers on soil stabilization, - Examine the long-term performance of GG-treated soils, - Study the effect of varying soil gradation and moisture conditions on GG…

    Mechanical and Microstructural Comparison of Improved Sand with Guar Gum and Cement · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Microbial Applications in Construction Materials

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Lack of standardized evaluation methods for self-healing efficiency (“Bacterial self-healing concrete: linking mechanisms and influencing factors to…”, 2026); (2) The lack of understanding of the effects of salt and copper stresses on nitrogen metabolism in urease-null soybean mutants (“Urease-null soybean (eu3-a) under salt and copper stress: nitrogen metabolism,…”, 2026); (3) The lack of a systematic analysis of research trends and hotspots in biomineralization and calcium carbonate studies (“Microbially Induced Calcium Carbonate Precipitation (MICP): Bibliometric…”, 2025); (4) The lack of effective and environmentally friendly stabilizing agents for soft soil (“Characterization of the Mechanical Behavior and Stabilization Mechanism of Soft…”, 2025); (5) There is a need for effective methods for soil stabilization and heavy metal remediation (“Enhanced MICP for Soil Improvement and Heavy Metal Remediation: Insights from…”, 2025). 132 gap statements have been mined from Microbial Applications in Construction Materials papers in our 4.5M-paper local library, which holds 1,173 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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