Fungal Calcium Carbonate Mineralization as a Microbial Approach for Concrete Self-Healing

Concrete is one of the most commonly used materials in buildings construction due to its availability and affordability. However, one of its major disadvantages is crack formation, especially under stress conditions including weather conditions. The crack development greatly affects the durability of concrete through the entrance of various contaminants such as atmospheric water and chloride penetration. These contaminants lead to the corrosion of steel in reinforced concrete. Some self-healing materials could be embedded at the beginning in the cementitious mixture to improve the concrete durability. However, microbial self-healing approaches have attracted more attention, especially those involving use of fungi. Hence, this review describes the application of fungi for self-healing approaches through promoting precipitation of calcium carbonate in the cracks. Also, various fungal species showing promising biotechnological tool in the application as a healing tool for concrete repair were highlighted.