Microbial cellulose in sand reportedly cut water permeability about sixfold in lab tests
SCIENCEUnverifiedUpdated:
A laboratory study reportedly reduced sand permeability about sixfold using microbial cellulose to bind grains. A separate method placing pre-grown sheets between sand layers reduced it about twenty-eightfold.
Comparing permeability with in-sand fibers and separate sheets
Researchers tested bacteria- and fungus-derived fibers as binders for sand. In the bacterial treatment, cellulose-producing bacteria grew fine fibers around and between grains; reported tests found the treated sand held together more strongly and reduced water permeability about sixfold. A separate layered-sand approach using bacterial-cellulose sheets reduced permeability about 28-fold.
Untreated sand was the comparison material in the reported laboratory drainage tests.
In the reported tests, cellulose fibers grown directly among sand grains reduced water permeability to about one-sixth of the untreated sand value. Separately inserted bacterial-cellulose sheets reduced it to roughly one twenty-eighth.
The work suggests a biodegradable way to alter how sand holds together and how quickly water drains through it. The reported experiments were conducted under controlled laboratory conditions; they did not test crop growth, survival in desert conditions, or dust-emission reduction.
Sources
- ScienceAlertScientists Find a Way to Turn Desert Sand Into 'Living Sand' That Holds Water Six Times LongerRead source →