Construction and Building Materials 379 (2023) 131041

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Research on the foaming mechanism of microbial foaming agent and its

application in foam concrete
Yang Liu a, Zhihua Liu a, Hui Rong a, b, c, *, Guowei Ma c
a
School of Materials Science and Engineering, TianJin ChengJian University, Tianjin 300384, China
b
Tianjin Key Laboratory of Building Green Functional Materials, Tianjin Chengjian University, Tianjin 300384, China
c
School of Civil and Transportation Engineering, Hebei University of Technology, Tianjin 300401, China

A R T I C L E I N F O A B S T R A C T

Keywords: This paper firstly investigates the effect of stirring and foaming of culture medium solution and microbial so­
Microbial foaming agent lution under the same incubation conditions as well as the factors affecting microbial foaming through settling
Foaming mechanism distance, water secretion rate, foaming times, functional groups, and surface tension, to clarify the foaming
Foam concrete
mechanism and optimal proportion of microbial foaming agent; then the mechanical properties of foam concrete
Prefabricated foam method
Direct mixing method
prepared by different preparation processes (direct mixing method and prefabricated foam method) are inves­
tigated using the microbial foaming agent. The results show that the foaming nature of microbial foaming agents
is the result of the synergistic effect of microorganisms, nutrients in the culture medium solution, and microbial
metabolites. Excellent performance foams were produced when the microbial inoculum was 10%, the incubation
time was 48 h, the pH was 7, the stirring time was 30 min and the gelatin admixture was 0.4%. At the same time,
the performance of the foam concrete prepared by the prefabricated foam method is better than that of the direct
mixing method, with a dry density of 967 kg/m3 and a 28th-day compressive strength of 4.7 MPa, which meets
the requirements of the industry standard A10 density class and has a uniform pore size distribution.

1. Introduction is complex; composite class is based on ordinary foaming agent Com­

The blowing agent is usually composed of a variety of surface-active
substances, diluted with water and mixed with high-pressure air to
produce bubbles, and is a necessary raw material for the preparation of
foam concrete[1]. According to the different ways to induce gas,
blowing agent is divided into physical blowing agent and chemical
blowing agent 2 categories; physical blowing agent is the use of the
surface-active substances in the solution of the blowing agent formed by
the double electron layer structure wrapped air to form bubbles, the
chemical blowing agent is the use of blowing agent itself and the matrix
material chemical reaction to release gas to produce bubbles[2,3].
There are more types of physical foaming agents, the common ones
are rosin resin type, surfactant type, protein type, and compound type.
Rosin resin class is compatible with cement and has a certain enhance­
ment effect on foam concrete, but the foaming rate is low and foam
stability is poor; surfactant class is more common at present, the foaming
is good, but the foam stability is poor; protein class foaming agent foam
stability is high, uniform bubble diameter, less affected by external
conditions, but its foaming capacity is low, and the preparation process
pound foam stabilization foam components formed by the new blowing
agent, good foaming capacity, high foam stability, but the traditional
composite blowing agent cost is high, the economy is poor[4,5]. the
chemical blowing agent is the release of N2, CO2, NH3[6], and other
gases through chemical reactions to form a gas pore, commonly used
chemical blowing agents are: aluminum powder, hydrogen peroxide,
ammonium chloride, etc.[7,8]; the use of chemical blowing agent
foaming although the foam production is high, but the gas released
during the production of foam on the human body, air, specimens have a
certain degree of impact, and the gas production process is difficult to
control. In summary, the existing foaming agents are more or fewer
problems, there is an urgent need to develop a high gas production, foam
stability, and green and economic new foaming agent.
At present, there are two main air-entraining measures for foam
concrete: one is the use of foaming agents to produce foam using
physical means, and the other is the production of bubbles in freshly
mixed slurry through chemical reactions; physical foaming is more
controllable, but its application in low-density foam concrete is limited;
chemical foaming, although more difficult to control for the size,

* Corresponding author at: School of Materials Science and Engineering, TianJin ChengJian University, Tianjin 300384, China.
E-mail address: huirongtcu@126.com (H. Rong).

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2023.131041
Received 23 August 2022; Received in revised form 15 January 2023; Accepted 11 March 2023
Available online 31 March 2023
0950-0618/© 2023 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
Y. Liu et al.
number, stability, and distribution of bubbles, has certain advantages in
the production of low-density foam concrete[1].
In recent years, microorganisms have been increasingly used in the
preparation of foaming agents due to their wide sources, their green
nature, and a large amount of protein they contain in their bodies.
Schunk et al[9] first proposed the use of yeast fermentation to prepare
foaming agents; Menchavez et al[10] used yeast foaming to successfully
produce porous ceramics; in China, CuiLihua et al[11] studied the
feasibility of yeast preparation of porous materials and it’s However,
most of the above studies produced bubbles through the fermentation of
yeast, and their effects were general. In contrast, this paper uses yeast
proteases in yeast to decompose proteins in the medium, producing
surface-active molecules that can reduce the surface tension of the so­
lution, and using CO2 generated by its respiration and combined with
external air to foam with the help of external forces. Based on this, this
paper investigates the foaming mechanism of the microbial foaming
agent to clarify its foaming nature; analyses the factors affecting mi­
crobial foaming with orthogonal tests to obtain the optimal microbial
foaming solution; and finally uses the microbial foaming agent to pre­
pare foam concrete to investigate the effects of different preparation
processes on the macro performance and microstructure of foam
concrete.
2. Experimental programs
2.1. Materials
Brewer’s yeast: purchased from the General Microbiology Center of
China Microbial Strain Preservation and Management Committee,
which has been domesticated for alkali tolerance before use, and
through screening, an alkali-tolerant yeast strain that can grow normally
under an alkaline environment was obtained; glucose: analytical pure;
trypsin: biological reagent; yeast extract: biological reagent; cement:
P⋅O-42.5 grade ordinary silicate cement.
2.2. Microbial foaming mechanism
In order to investigate the main substances with foaming ability in
the microbial solution, this experiment investigated the effect of stirring
and foaming of the medium solution and microbial solution under the
same culture conditions, to identify the main substances that play a
foaming role in the microbial solution.
(1) The medium solution: m(glucose): m(tryptone): m(yeast extract)
= 1.0%: 1.0%: 0.5% by mass. Added 4 g glucose, 4 g tryptone,
and 2 g yeast extract together to 400 mL distilled water. Stirred
well, and then packed in a conical flask and sterilized in an
autoclave, which was placed on a sterile operation table after
sterilization was completed[12]. After cooling, the medium was
placed directly into a shaker without inoculation at a frequency of
170 r/min and a temperature of 35 ℃ for 24 h. The foam was
produced by stirring at 3000 r/min for 30 min with a high-speed
stirrer and analyzed for foaming times, 1 h settling distance, and
1 h water secretion rate.
(2) The microbial solution: A microbial solution with an inoculum
age of 12 h and a 10% inoculum was incubated in a shaker at the
same oscillation frequency and culture temperature for 24 h. The
foam was prepared with a high-speed stirrer at 3000 r/min for 30
min and tested for foaming times, 1 h settling distance, and 1 h
water secretion.
To further investigate the foaming mechanism of microbial foaming
agents, Fourier transforms infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and surface
tension tests were carried out on culture medium solutions and micro­
bial solutions under the same incubation conditions. This was used to
investigate the type and number of functional groups in the culture
2
Construction and Building Materials 379 (2023) 131041
medium and microbial solution and to reveal the foaming mechanism.
2.3. Optimization of microbial foaming agents
2.3.1. Orthogonal experiments to obtain optimal foam performance for
each factor
In the process of the experiment, there are many factors affecting
foaming, such as inoculum, microbial incubation time, solution pH,
stirring time, temperature, shaker speed, substrate concentration, stir­
ring speed, etc., in order to better prepare high-quality foam, the
experiment designed orthogonal tests on several factors with greater
influence: inoculum, incubation time, solution pH, stirring time, each
( )
factor is taken to three levels, design L9 34 orthogonal tests, to obtain
the order of influence of each factor, optimize the optimal proportioning
scheme, see Table 1.
2.3.2. Foam stabilizer dosing
The stability of the foam is a key factor in determining the early
construction performance of foam concrete as well as the mechanical
properties after consolidation. Foam destabilization is caused by a
combination of three effects: thinning of the foam liquid film discharge,
gas diffusion, and film rupture[13]. The role of the stabilizer is to reduce
the surface tension of the liquid phase of the slurry in order to stabilize
the bubbles and ensure a fine, uniform porous structure overall.
Different stabilizers have different effects on the generation of different
bubbles. If the chosen stabilizer is compatible with the bubbles, it will
enhance the stability of the bubbles, prolong the half-life of the bubbles
and reduce the sink distance and water secretion rate; on the contrary, it
may affect the performance of the bubbles. Because gelatin itself is a
protein-based stabilizer, it can increase the viscosity of the liquid,
resulting in higher quality foams with less permeability, has a significant
effect on the foam stabilization ability of the blowing agent, and is more
compatible with microorganisms, so gelatin was chosen as the stabilizer
for this experiment[14,15].
The microbial solution of 12 h inoculum age and 10% inoculum was
incubated in a shaker at 170 r/min and 35 ℃ for 48 h. The pH was then
adjusted to 7. 0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, and 1.0% gelatin by volume was
added to the solution and stirred at 3000 r/min for 30 min with a high-
speed stirrer to obtain the foam was measured for 1 h settling distance, 1
h water secretion rate and foaming multiplier.
2.4. The influence of the preparation process on the properties of foam
concrete
After obtaining the optimum ratio of microbial foaming agent and
the amount of foam stabilizer through orthogonal experiments, two
identical portions of the microbial foaming agent were prepared ac­
cording to the ratio. Two different preparation processes are used: (i)
direct mixing method: the microbial foaming agent was directly added
to the cement slurry and mixed to produce foam; (ii) prefabricated foam
method: the microbial foaming agent was first stirred at 3000 r/min for
30 min in a high-speed stirrer to produce foam, and then the foam was
added to the cement slurry and mixed well to produce foam concrete.
The foam concrete was obtained. The effect of the two processes on the
performance of the foam concrete was investigated by macroscopic
Table 1
Factors and levels of preparation of microbial foaming agents.
Level Test factors
Inoculation Cultivation pH Stirring
Volume Time Time
(g/100 mL) (h) (min)
1 5 24 7 10
2 10 48 9 20
3 20 72 11 30
Y. Liu et al. Construction and Building Materials 379 (2023) 131041

performance tests and microstructural analysis. alone and the foaming multiple was 20 times higher than that of the
medium solution. The 1 h settling distance was 51 mm and the 1 h lytic
rate was 38%, which was a substantial improvement in foam stability
2.5. Test methods
compared to the medium solution. Therefore, although both the medium
solution alone and the microbial solution can be foamed, the foams
In this experiment, the foaming times, 1 h settling distance, and 1 h
prepared from the microbial solution are far more stable than those
water secretion rate, foaming height, and half-life of the foaming agent
prepared from the medium solution.
were tested by the common laboratory stirring method. The foaming
From the above table, it can be obtained that the surface tension
times, 1 h settling distance, and 1 h water secretion rate were tested
value of the culture medium solution is 46.6 mN/m and the surface
according to JC/T 2199–2013 “Foam Agent for Foam Concrete”. The
tension value of the microbial solution is 34.4 mN/m, which is a
changes in the types of functional groups and the surface tension values
decrease of 35% compared to the culture medium solution. This is
in the culture medium solution and the microbial solution were analyzed
because the surface tension value of the solution is related to the number
and tested using a Thermo Nicolet 380 FTIR analysis meter and a JYW-
of surface active molecules contained in the solution, the more hydro­
200 fully automatic surface tension meter.
philic and hydrophobic groups in the solution, the more surface active
The preparation and performance testing of foam concrete is divided
molecules there are, therefore the lower surface tension value indicates
into direct mixing method and prefabricated foam method according to
that the microbial solution contains more number of functional groups
the preparation process.(1) Direct mixing method for foam concrete:
than in the culture solution.
first added cement and water to the mixer and stirred for 3 min, then
added the microbial foaming agent to the cement slurry and stirred for
3.1.2. Functional groups
30 min until the slurry was well mixed with the foam, after mixing was
To further investigate the mechanism of microbial foaming, the re­
completed, placed in a 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm triplex mold and
sults were tested by using Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy for
pour into shape. (2) Prefabricated foam method: the foam was first made
the culture medium solution and the microbial solution respectively for
by stirring the microbial foaming agent at 3000 r/min for 30 min in a
functional groups as shown in Fig. 1.
high-speed mixer. Similarly, the cement was stirred with water for 3 min
As can be seen from Fig. 1, the corresponding peaks at 3400 cm− 1
and then the foam was added to the cement slurry and mixed well, and
and 3402 cm− 1 are alcohol OH stretching vibrations; at 2945 cm− 1 are
poured into a 100 mm × 100 mm × 100 mm triplex mold. After molding,
alkanes CH3 antisymmetric stretching vibrations; at 1640 cm− 1 are
the specimens were cured in cling film for 24 h at room temperature and
amines NH2 variable angle vibrations; at 1404 cm− 1 are olefins CH2
then demolding. After demolding, they continued to be wrapped in cling
variable angle vibrations; at 1105 cm− 1 and 1079 cm− 1 and the peaks at
film until the 28th day of curing age for performance testing and
1105 cm− 1 and 1079 cm− 1 and 1044 cm− 1 are C-OH stretching vibra­
microstructural analysis. The dry density, 7th-day compressive strength,
tions of alcohols, and at 920 cm− 1 are COH out-of-plane bending vi­
and 28th-day compressive strength of the foam concrete were tested
brations of carboxylic acids.
following the standard “Methods of Testing the Properties of Autoclaved
Among them, OH and COH are hydrophilic groups, while alkanes
Aerated Concrete”.
CH3, alkenes CH2, and amines NH2 are hydrophobic groups. Based on
The microstructure is mainly studied for its porosity and hydration
the peak analysis and the determination of functional groups, it was
products. (1) Porosity: The foam concrete specimens were cut flat from
found that both the culture medium solution and the microbial solution
the middle, and a square of 10 mm × 10 mm was taken from the middle
contained a variety of functional groups with hydrophilic or hydro­
area after the flat cut. 3 specimens were taken, the pore structure was
phobic properties; while the microbial solution had more types of hy­
observed and the porosity was calculated using a VHX-600E ultra-deep
drophilic and hydrophobic groups than the culture medium solution.
field microscope. (2) Hydration products: The central part of the foam
The reason for this is that the nutrients such as tryptone and yeast
concrete specimen was taken as a specimen after crushing, and the hy­
powder in the medium solution contain proteins, and the process of
dration products were analyzed by scanning electron microscope (SEM)
autoclaving will cause some of the protein molecules to break down and
of JSM-7800F.
produce hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups. When the solution is
inoculated with microorganisms, the yeast protease in the microorgan­
3. Results and discussion isms will further break down the proteins in the medium, and when the

3.1. Microbial foaming agent foaming mechanism

3.1.1. Influence of different media on foaming properties

In order to investigate the main substances of microbial foaming, the
effect on the foaming multiplier, 1 h settling distance, 1 h water secre­
tion rate, and surface tension was studied by stirring and foaming the
two media of medium solution and microbial solution under the same
incubation conditions, and the results are shown in Table 2.
As can be seen from Table 2, the foam multiplier of the medium
solution alone was 14.0 times, while the 1 h settling distance and 1 h
water secretion rate were 160 mm and 100%, respectively, and the foam
was completely defoamed within 1 h. The microbial solution was stirred

Table 2
Effect of different media on the performance of microbial foaming agents.
Projects Different Media
Culture medium solution Microbial solution

Foaming times 14 20
1 h settlement distance/(mm) 160 51
1 h exudation rate/(%) 100 38
Surface tension/(mN/m) 46.6 34.4
Fig. 1. FTIR spectra of culture medium and microbial solution.

3
Y. Liu et al.
peptide bonds of the protein molecules are broken, forming soluble short
chains, a large number of hydrophilic and hydrophobic groups will be
produced in these short chains. The microbial solution, therefore, con­
tains both hydrophilic or hydrophobic groups produced by the high-
temperature decomposition of proteins and hydrophilic or hydropho­
bic groups produced by microbial decomposition, so there are more of
these groups in the microbial solution than in the culture medium
solution.
Therefore, the essence of microbial foam production is that yeast
decomposes the protein molecules in the medium through its own in­
ternal yeast protease, and the peptide bonds in the protein molecules
break to form soluble short chains, which contain more hydrophilic
groups such as carboxyl and hydroxyl groups and hydrophobic groups
such as alkyl and amino groups. These hydrophilic and hydrophobic
groups (surface-active molecules) adsorb and accumulate in large
numbers in solution thereby reducing the surface tension of the solution
to form an interface. At the same time, yeast uses fermentation to
decompose glucose in aerobic and anaerobic environments to produce
CO2 by respiration[16], which forms a gas–liquid interface phase with
the solution; at this time, surface-active molecules in the solution will
gather in large numbers around the gas–liquid interface phase to wrap
the gas to form a single molecular layer structure; when the bubbles
further rise to contact the interface phase (formed by the atmosphere
and the solution surface), the outer molecular film wraps the inner
molecular film The surface-active molecules are wrapped around the
bilayer in a tight and orderly manner to overcome the surface tension of
the solution and leave the liquid surface, and then a large number of
bubbles will gather to form a foam[17]. The reaction equation and the
diagram of bubble production are shown in the following equation and
Fig. 2.
C6H12O6 + 6O2 → 6CO2 + 6H2O(1)
C6H12O6 → 2C2H5OH + 2CO2(2)
The foaming nature of microbial foaming agents is the result of the
synergistic action of microorganisms, nutrients in the medium solution,
and microbial metabolites. Firstly, the micro-organisms break down the
proteins contained in the tryptone and yeast extracts in the medium
solution by their own yeast protease to produce surface-active mole­
cules. These surface-active molecules reduce the surface tension of the
solution, form an interface, introduce CO2 (generated by their own
respiration) and combine with external air to produce foam; at this
point, the medium solution provides the proteins and the micro-
organisms break down the proteins, both of which are involved in the
foam production process.
Fig. 2. Schematic diagram of microbial foaming mechanism.
4
Construction and Building Materials 379 (2023) 131041
At the same time, other metabolic products of microorganisms and
glucose in the medium solution and nutrients that have not been
completely consumed have a thickening effect on the solution. There­
fore, the foam production of microbial foaming agents is the result of the
synergistic effect of microorganisms, medium solution, and microbial
metabolites, microorganisms, medium solution, and microbial metabo­
lites play a role in foaming and foam stabilization.
3.2. Determination of the optimal solution for stirring and foaming
microbial solutions
3.2.1. Orthogonal experiments to obtain optimal foam performance for
each factor
For several test factors affecting microbial foaming: inoculum, in­
cubation time, solution pH, and stirring time, each factor was taken to
three levels and designed orthogonal test, the experimental results are
shown in Table 3, and the calculation of the optimized indicators are
shown in Table 4.
As can be seen from Table 4, when 1 h settling distance, 1 h
exudation rate, and foaming height are used as indicators, pH has the
most significant effect on the microbial foaming agent, followed by in­
cubation time; when half-life is used as an indicator, incubation time has
the greatest effect on the foaming effect, followed by pH. Since the
foaming height, 1 h settling distance, and 1 h water secretion rate are the
main evaluation indicators of foam performance, the 1 h settling dis­
tance, 1 h water secretion rate, and foaming height should be taken as
the main indicators for comprehensive consideration, and the half-life is
a supplementary factor. Therefore, the design of the optimal microbial
foaming agent was finally determined to be 10% inoculum, 48 h incu­
bation time, pH equal to 7, and stirring time equal to 30 min.
3.2.2. Determination of foam stabilizer dosing in microbial foaming agents
In this experiment, gelatin was selected as the foam stabilizer, and
0.2%, 0.4%, 0.6%, 0.8%, and 1.0% of gelatin were added to the mi­
crobial foaming agents, and the foam multiplier, 1 h settling distance,
and 1 h water secretion rate were measured with a high-speed stirrer at
3000 r/min for 30 min, and the results are shown in Fig. 3.
As can be seen from Fig. 3 (a), the foaming multiplier increases with
the amount of gelatin and then decreases, and the highest foaming
multiplier is reached 28 times when the amount of gelatin is 0.4%, while
the foaming multiplier decreases significantly when the amount of
gelatin is increased to 0.6%~1.0%. The main reason is that gelatin is a
kind of colloid, when the mixing amount is too small, it can’t play a
synergistic role in stabilizing and foaming, while too much mixing will
increase the consistency of the solution, increasing the weight of
Y. Liu et al. Construction and Building Materials 379 (2023) 131041

Table 3
Orthogonal results of factors affecting foaming.
Factors Inoculation Cultivation Solutions Stirring 1h 1h Foaming Half-life
volume time pH time settling exudation height (min)
(g/100 mL) (h) (min) distance rate (mm)
(mm) (%)

1 5 24 7 10 18 29.3 68.0 90
2 5 48 9 20 14 50.4 40.0 120
3 5 72 11 30 25 76.4 33.7 33
4 10 24 9 30 10 47.8 50.0 105
5 10 48 11 10 26 80.6 42.3 50
6 10 72 7 20 12 40.2 61.0 30
7 20 24 11 20 64 38.9 36.8 49
8 20 48 7 30 9 29.2 54.3 83
9 20 72 9 10 60 72.5 46.0 40

meet the specification requirement of water secretion rate.

Table 4
The three indexes of integrated foaming multiplier, 1 h sinkage
Optimization results under different indexes.
distance, and 1 h water secretion rate, all three indexes reach the re­
Factors Inoculation Cultivation Solutions Stirring quirements of the medium and first grade of the executive standard of
Data volume time pH time
“foam agent for foam concrete” JC/T 2199–2013 when the gelatin
Indicators (g/100 mL) (h) (min)
admixture is 0.2%~0.6% (see Table 5). At 0.4%, the performance of
each index reached the best, so the best gelatin dose was determined to
1h Extreme 16.8 25.6 28.3 20.0
settling difference R
be 0.4% of the solution volume. And after comparing the economic cost
distance of the microbial blowing agent with commercially available animal
Primary and pH > cultivation time > stirring time > inoculation
protein blowing agent and rosin resin-based blowing agent, it can be
secondary volume
order obtained that the microbial blowing agent is more economical, and its
Excellent 10% 48 7 30 specific values are shown in Table 6.
level Combined with the orthogonal test and the determination of the
Excellent 10% 48 7 30
optimal amount of stabilizer, the optimal stirring process parameters
combination
1h Extreme 9.3 24.3 32.4 17.6 and ratios of microbial foaming agent foam performance are 10%
exudation difference R inoculum, 48 h incubation time, pH 7, 30 min stirring time, 0.4% gelatin
rate Primary and pH > cultivation time > stirring time > inoculation dosing. Under this ratio, excellent foam performance can be obtained,
secondary volume with a 1 h settling distance of 25 mm, 1 h water secretion rate of 54%,
order
and a foaming multiplier of 28, which meets the requirements of the
Excellent 10% 48 7 30
level current national industry standard for first-class products.
Excellent 10% 24 7 30
combination 3.3. Influence of the preparation process on the properties and
Foaming Extreme 7.2 13.4 15.8 8.7
micromorphology of foam concrete
height difference R
Primary and pH > cultivation time > stirring time > inoculation
secondary volume After the water-cement ratio of 0.45 was determined through pre­
order liminary tests, sufficient cement and water were weighed according to
Excellent 20% 24 9 20 the mix design and microbial foam concrete was prepared using two
level
preparation processes without the addition of other additives. Fig. 4
Excellent 20% 24 9 20
combination shows the specimens and cross-sectional sections of the foam concrete
Half-life Extreme 23.7 50.0 44.3 13.7 prepared by the different processes.
difference R
Primary and cultivation time > pH > inoculation volume >
3.3.1. Effect of preparation process on the dry density of foam concrete
secondary stirring time
order As can be seen from Fig. 5, the dry density of the direct mixing group
Excellent 5% 48 9 30 is 1400 kg/m3, corresponding to density class A14, while the dry density
level of the prefabricated foam group is 967 kg/m3, corresponding to density
Excellent 5% 48 9 30 class A10. The dry density of the direct mixing group is much higher
combination
than that of the prefabricated foam group, mainly because on the one
hand the direct mixing method is to mix the microbial foaming agent
foaming and the surface tension of the solution, causing a decrease in the directly with the cementitious material, and the cementitious material
foaming multiple. exerts heat during the hydration reaction, resulting in the temperature
The 1 h settling distance and 1 h water secretion rate mainly respond in the hardened cement paste is higher than the optimum temperature
to the foam stability of the blowing agent, as can be seen from Fig. 3 (b), required for the normal growth and reproduction of yeast, causing some
the 1 h settling distance is lowest at 0.4% gelatin admixture, too little yeast to stagnate growth and even die. On the other hand, as the hy­
gelatin admixture can’t play a role in stabilizing the foam, but too many dration reaction proceeds, the cement slurry gradually hardens and the
increases the gravity discharge of the foam, the foam is more likely to resistance required to create pores increases, resulting in a reduction in
break. The 1 h water secretion rate increases with the increase of gelatin the number of pores within the formed microbial foam concrete spec­
admixture, and the change of water secretion rate is small in the range of imen. In contrast, when using the prefabricated foam method to prepare
0.4% to 0.6%, which means that 0.4% gelatin admixture is just right to microbial foam concrete, the foam used is pre-prepared, the foam sta­
make the foam water content reach the maximum point of adaptation; at bility is better, the foam is not easy to break during the mixing process,
1.0% the water secretion rate reaches 80.3% which already does not and more pores are formed during the setting and hardening process,
and the porosity is higher after forming, so its dry density is less than the

5
Y. Liu et al. Construction and Building Materials 379 (2023) 131041

Fig. 3. Effect of gelatin on the microbial foaming agent:(a) Influence of gelatin on foaming times; (b) Influence of gelatin on 1 h sedimentation distance and 1 h
exudation rate.

slowly. This leads to slower hardening of the cement paste, evaporation

Table 5
and dissipation of internal water, and slow or even stopped hydration of
Foaming agent performance specifications[18].
the cement, resulting in fewer hydration products and lower strength in
Projects Foaming Exudation rate Settling distance the formed foam concrete specimens[19,20].
times (%) (mm)

First-class 15–30 ≤70% ≤50 3.3.3. Effect of preparation process on the pore structure and porosity of
products foam concrete
Eligible products 15–30 ≤80% ≤70
The formation of closed pores within foam concrete is closely related
to the properties of the foam before the cementitious material sets and
hardens, including diameter, shape, viscosity, homogeneity, and sta­
Table 6 bility[15,21-23]. The pore structure and porosity formed directly affect
Cost analysis of 1 ton foaming agent.
the relevant properties of the foam concrete. Therefore, the pore struc­
Projects Price/US$ ture of the foam concrete prepared by both processes was observed and
Animal protein foaming agent 79 the porosity was calculated using the microscope as shown in Figs. 7 and
Rosin resin blowing agent 66 8.
Microbial foaming agent 28 Fig. 7 to Fig. 8 show the pore structure and the calculated porosity of
the foam concrete produced by the different preparation processes as
direct mixing group. observed by microscopy 150 times. It can be seen from the figures that
the microbial foam concrete produced by the direct mixing method has
3.3.2. Influence of the preparation process on the compressive strength of fewer pores with a low porosity of 43.0% and is concentrated in local­
foam concrete ized locations, whereas the microbial foam concrete produced by the
As can be seen from Fig. 6, the 7th-day and 28th-day compressive prefabricated foam method has more pores with high porosity of 77.8%
strengths of the directly mixed group are 2.3 MPa and 5.3 MPa respec­ and is uniformly distributed. The main reason is that when the direct
tively, with a dry density of 1400 kg/m3, which does not meet the re­ mixing method is used to prepare microbial foam concrete, the yeast in
quirements of industry-standard A14 (5.5–10.0 MPa); whereas the dry the foaming agent appears to have swarming behavior before the cement
density of the prefabricated foam group is 967 kg/m3, with 7th-day hardens, the yeast in the cement slurry is not uniformly distributed and
compressive strength of 1.9 MPa and 28th-day of 4.7 MPa meeting the produces less foam, resulting in uneven distribution and low porosity
industry standard A10 (3.5–5.0 MPa) strength requirements. The reason and high density of the holes formed after forming. In contrast, when
for this is that when the microbial foaming agent solution is added using the prefabricated foam method to prepare microbial foam con­
directly to the cementitious material, the solution contains glucose that crete, the same volume of microbial foaming solution, through physical
has not been absorbed by the yeast and causes the cement paste to set stirring and foaming, the foam obtained is more uniform in size, tightly
arranged and well-formed, added to the net cement slurry fully stirred

Fig. 4. Diagram and cross-section of foamed concrete specimens prepared by different techniques:(a) Direct mixing group; (b) Prefabricated foam group; (C) Cross-
section of direct agitation group; (d) Sectional view of prefabricated foam group.

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Y. Liu et al. Construction and Building Materials 379 (2023) 131041

and evenly distributed and less broken, the resulting product has a
higher natural porosity.

3.3.4. Influence of the preparation process on the microstructure of foam

Fig. 5. Effect of preparation technology on the dry density of foamed concrete.
concrete
In order to investigate the effect of the preparation process on the
microstructure of microbial foam concrete, scanning electron micro­
scopy was used to observe the microscopic morphological structure of
the foam concrete on the 28th day for both preparation processes and
the results are shown in Fig. 9.
As can be seen from Fig. 9 (a), the foam concrete produced by the
direct mixing method has less C-S-H gel generated and contains a small
amount of Ca(OH)2 due to incomplete hydration of the matrix caused by
glucose to ease the hydration of the cement; and the presence of C-S-H
gel is the main source of the long-term strength of the foam concrete.
when the content of C-S-H gel generated by hydration is low, it will lead
to a lower strength of the foam concrete, so the foam concrete prepared
by the direct mixing method has a density of A14 grade but the strength
does not meet the requirements of A14 grade. In the case of foam con­
crete prepared by the precast foam method, it can be seen from Fig. 9 (b)
that compared to the direct mixing method, the hydration products
contain a large amount of reticulated C-S-H gel, and the matrix is more
completely hydrated and there are fewer unhydrated cement particles,
the production of a large amount of C-S-H gel provides a guarantee of the
strength of the foam concrete; therefore, the strength of the foam con­
crete prepared by the precast foam method meets the requirements of
the industry specifications.

Fig. 6. Effect of preparation technology on compressive strength of

foamed concrete.

Fig. 8. Effect of preparation technology on porosity.

Fig. 7. Influence of preparation processes on the pore structure of foamed concrete:(a) Direct mixing group; (b) Prefabricated foam group.

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Y. Liu et al.
Fig. 9. SEM images of foamed concrete with different preparation processes:(a) direct mixing group; (b) Prefabricated foam group.
4. Conclusion
(1) Microbial foaming agent stirring foaming is the result of the
synergistic effect of microorganisms, nutrients in the medium
solution, and microbial metabolites. The microorganisms can
decompose the proteins in the medium solution to produce
surface-active molecules, reduce the surface tension of the solu­
tion and play a foaming role; the proteins, glucose, and microbial
metabolites in the medium solution that have not been
completely decomposed have a thickening effect on the solution,
which can enhance the viscoelasticity of the solution, improve
foam stability and play a role in foam stabilization.
(2) The optimum stirring process parameters and ratios for the per­
formance of microbial foaming agents are microbial inoculum
10%, incubation time 48 h, pH 7, stirring time 30 min, gelatin
admixture 0.4% of the volume of microbial solution. Under this
ratio, foam with excellent performance can be obtained, with a 1
h settling distance of 25 mm, a 1 h water secretion rate of 54%,
and a foaming multiplier of 28, meeting the requirements of the
current industry standards.
(3) Compared to the direct mixing method, foam concrete prepared
using the precast foam method is more controllable and has
better performance, as demonstrated by a dry density of 967 kg/
m3 and 28th-day compressive strength of 4.7 MPa, which meets
the current industry standards.
CRediT authorship contribution statement
Yang Liu: Conceptualization, Methodology, Formal analysis, Data
curation, Writing – original draft. Zhihua Liu: Conceptualization,
Methodology, Resources, Writing – review & editing. Hui Rong: Writing
– review & editing. Guowei Ma: Writing – review & editing.
Declaration of Competing Interest
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial
interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence
the work reported in this paper.
Data availability
Data will be made available on request.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Nature Science Foundation
of China (Grant No. 52178264, 52178265, 52278268, 52278269), Key
projects of science and technology support of Tianjin key plan program
Construction and Building Materials 379 (2023) 131041
(20YFZCSN00520), Major China Railway Construction Corporation
project (2020-A01), China Railway Construction Bridge Engineering
Bureau Group Science and Technology Innovation Project (DQJ-2021-
A03).
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