| EPSRC Reference: |
EP/X016943/1 |
| Title: |
Unlocking the potential of biopolymer soil stabilisation |
| Principal Investigator: |
Smith, Dr CC |
| Other Investigators: |
|
| Researcher Co-Investigators: |
|
| Project Partners: |
|
| Department: |
Civil and Structural Engineering |
| Organisation: |
University of Sheffield |
| Scheme: |
Standard Research - NR1 |
| Starts: |
01 April 2023 |
Ends: |
30 September 2024 |
Value (£): |
201,197
|
| EPSRC Research Topic Classifications: |
|
| EPSRC Industrial Sector Classifications: |
| No relevance to Underpinning Sectors |
|
|
| Related Grants: |
|
| Panel History: |
|
|
Summary on Grant Application Form |
The global soil stabilisation market is forecast to grow to $35 billion by 2027 driven primarily by infrastructure and construction activities and exacerbated by the increasingly urgent need to adapt to climate change, flood risk and sea-level rise.
Cement and lime are widely used to stabilise soil, but suffer from significant carbon and energy costs. Naturally sourced biopolymers are a promising low carbon 'green' substitute, achieving higher strength in stabilised soils than cement and at similar cost. However, widespread uptake of biopolymers is impeded by the fact that they suffer from (a) poor water resistance and (b) poor resistance to biodegradation over time.
To address these limitations, this proposal aims to investigate novel biopolymer treatment processes which have been designed from the molecular level up and which can be applied at the soil/biopolymer mixing stage. These have the scope to provide water and biodegradation resistance using only small volumes of additional natural materials and if successfully demonstrated have the potential to achieve a transformational impact on the soil stabilisation market.
|
|
Key Findings |
|
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
|
|
Potential use in non-academic contexts |
|
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
|
|
Impacts |
|
| Description |
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk |
| Summary |
|
| Date Materialised |
|
|
|
|
Sectors submitted by the Researcher |
|
This information can now be found on Gateway to Research (GtR) http://gtr.rcuk.ac.uk
|
| Project URL: |
|
| Further Information: |
|
| Organisation Website: |
http://www.shef.ac.uk |