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 Smart Materials and Structures

Smart Mater. Struct. 29 (2020) 105035 (8pp) https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-665X/aba53b

A new type capsule-based healing agent

for concrete and its protective function
of spores
Xuan Zhang1,2,3 and Chunxiang Qian1,2,3
1
School of Materials Science and Engineering, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People’s Republic
of China;
2
Research Center of Green Building & Construction Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189,
People’s Republic of China
3
Jiangsu Key Laboratory for Construction Materials, Southeast University, Nanjing 211189, People’s
Republic of China

E-mail: zhangxuanseu@163.com and cxqian@seu.edu.cn

Received 28 April 2020, revised 8 June 2020

Accepted for publication 13 July 2020
Published 17 September 2020

Abstract
To prolong the survival time of bacteria in the concrete and improve the self-healing ability of
the late-age cracks, a new type of core–shell structure capsule-based healing agents were
prepared for loading spores. The performance and protective ability of the capsules were tested.
The self-healing concrete was prepared by mixing the substitution of fine aggregates with an
equal amount of capsule-based healing agents. And the slump, compressive strength and
repair-ability of concrete were carried out. The results showed that the capsule could provide
long-term protection for loaded spores under the erosion of simulated pore solution of concrete
for at least 203 d. Furthermore, the concentration and the cumulative amount of calcium ions of
the crack zone solution were significantly increased. The slump and compressive strength of
concrete do not change significantly with a low dose of capsule-based healing agents. However,
the fluidity of fresh concrete will be greatly improved with the increase of dosage. Compared
with adding spore powder directly, the self-healing ability of late-age crack (the repair-ability to
crack area and the water impermeability of crack) will be improved obviously by adding
capsules. Therefore, using capsule loading to protect spores is a potential solution for the
long-term maintenance of the self-healing ability of concrete.
Keywords: capsule-based healing agent, self-healing concrete, bacteria, spores, protection

(Some figures may appear in colour only in the online journal)

1. Introduction [6], and microbial self-healing [7]. Among them, bacteria-

Cracks in concrete are one of the key factors that determine the
strength and durability of concrete-built structures [1]. How-
ever, the occurrence of cracks in concrete is inevitable [2].
A potential solution to this crucial problem is the application
of self-healing technology [3]. Self-healing concrete has the
ability to repair its small cracks autonomously [4] and has
recently attracted interest in civil engineering [1]. To achieve
this goal, various self-healing methods have been developed
such as shape memory alloys [5], electrochemical deposition
based healing has shown promising results towards full-scale
application and commercialization phase of self-healing con-
crete [8]. However, the bacteria-based self-healing technology
still grapples with many challenges, the biggest one of which
is how to ensure the long-term survival of bacteria in concrete
[9]. Therefore, researchers screened the bacteria that were res-
istant to alkaline surroundings and converted the obtained bac-
teria into spores [10], further increasing their tolerance to harsh
environments. Even so, 99.8% of spores lose viability on the
22nd day [11]. The high alkalinity and narrow living space

1361-665X/20/105035+8$33.00 1 © 2020 IOP Publishing Ltd Printed in the UK

Smart Mater. Struct. 29 (2020) 105035 X Zhang and C Qian

inside the concrete make it difficult for the spores to keep alive Table 1. The chemical composition of sulfur-aluminate cement (%).
for a long time [12]. Therefore, the direct addition of spores to MgO Al2 O3 SiO2 SO3 Cl- K2 O CaO Fe2 O3
concrete is often used to repair the early-age cracks. To pro-
long the survival time of spores, many kinds of carriers that 1.71 33.38 8.18 7.90 0.11 0.22 43.10 1.96
can protect spores have been developed, such as light-weight
aggregate [13], microcapsule [14], and compressed powder
[8]. Lightweight aggregate-based bacteria concrete has yiel-
ded to improve crack sealing efficiency, but the decrease in
compressive strength might limit its application [8]. Microcap-
sules are generally prepared by organic substances. However,
the compatibility with the concrete matrix and the increase
of long-term shrinkage is not conducive to its promotion in
practical projects [15]. The concrete mixed with the powder-
based healing agent may result in a significant reduction of
its flexural strength and compressive strength [10]. It can
be seen that selecting a reasonable carrier is necessary and Figure 1. Capsule-based healing agents.
important for self-healing concrete [16]. Encapsulation-based
self-healing technology is an effective method for healing
the crack-deteriorated cementitious materials [17]. There are
many challenges for this technology. For capsule materials,
it should have suitable viscosity, fitted elastic modules, strain
capacity, and bonding strength [18]. In addition to the capsule
materials and healing agents, the crack propagation behavior
of encapsulation-based self-healing concrete, kinetics of heal-
ing agent in discrete crack surfaces, and other comprehensive
factors are also worth studying [19]. Among these issues, the
most important one is that the selected carrier will not have a
negative impact on the performances of concrete [12], and it
also has a good protective function of loaded spores.
Figure 2. Structure of the capsule-based healing agent.
The purpose of this study was to prepare a new kind of spore
carrier to prolong the survival time of spores to ensure its self-
healing ability of later-age crack. Thus, a novel kind of heal- is approximately 3–4 mm in diameter, the diameter of the inner
ing agent with a core–shell structure was prepared. The single- layer is approximately 2 mm, and the thickness of the outer
particle strength, crushing value and protection ability of the layer is about 1 mm.
capsule-based healing agent were tested. Also, the ability to
change the calcium ion condition of the solution in the crack
zone was determined. The self-healing concrete was prepared 2.2. Other materials
by replacing some fine aggregate with capsule-based healing
agents, the properties of fresh concrete, harden concrete and Ordinary Portland cement with a strength grade of P·II42.5
crack self-healing ability was tested. Capsule-based healing was used. The fine aggregate used was river sand with a fine-
agents are promising to be used for practical engineering. ness modulus of 2.6. The coarse aggregate used was granite
gravel with a maximum particle size of 25 mm. The mixing
water and the curing water used in the test are tap water. The
2. Materials superplasticizer was a polycarboxylic acid high-performance
water-reducer agent, and the maximum rate of water reduction
2.1. Microbial healing agent was in the range of 30%–35%.
The capsule-based healing agents were bulk prepared as
shown in figure 1. The core–shell structure of the healing agent
2.3. Preparation for microbial self-healing concrete
is shown in figure 2. To avoid the influence of nutrients and
spores powder on the properties of concrete, healing agent was Four groups of self-healing concrete mixed with different
loaded in the inner layer of the capsule. The healing compon- capsule-based healing agent dosages were prepared for the
ents in the inner of section of the capsules was mainly com- slump of fresh concrete testing. For group CH5, CH10 and
posed of spore powder and calcium nitrate. The outer layer of CH15, capsule-based healing agents replace 5%, 10% and
the capsule is a kind of low alkalinity cementitious material, 15% ratio of fine aggregates, respectively. Reference concrete
which can provide a suitable physical and chemical environ- added with 0% healing agents. The mix proportions of con-
ment for the loaded spores. The low basic cementitious mater- crete are shown in table 2.
ial used in this paper is sulfur-aluminate cement. Its chemical CH representing capsules. The number behind the letter
composition and proportion are shown in table 1. The capsule represents the addition percentage of capsules.

2
Smart Mater. Struct. 29 (2020) 105035
Table 2. Mix proportion of concrete mixed with capsule-based healing agents.
No. Cement (kg/m3 ) Water (kg/m3 ) Sand (kg/m3 )
CH0 412 165 590
CH5 412 165 560.5
CH10 412 165 531
CH15 412 165 501.5
Three contrast tests were designed to compare the self-
healing ability of concrete mixed with different types of heal-
ing agents. For the reference concrete group CH0, no healing
agents were added. Capsule-based healing agents were added
to group CH5. For group S, the powder healing agents without
capsule were added. The number of added spores must keep
consistent in CH5 and S to ensure that the samples were com-
parable. The mix proportions of self-healing concrete mixed
with different types of healing agents are shown in table 3.
3. Methods
3.1. Test methods for the properties of capsule-based
healing agents
3.1.1. Strength properties of capsule-based healing agent.
The instrument used to measure the particle strength of capsule
is intelligent particle strength tester (KY-20, Jiangsu Keyuan
Electronic Instrument Co. Ltd.). The range of it is 0–200 N,
and the instrument sensitivity is 0.1 N. The crushing value of
capsules was tested according to China Standard JGJ52-2006
‘Standard for technical requirements and test method of sand
and crushed stone (or gravel) for ordinary concrete’.
3.1.2. Protective function of capsule. To investigate the
protection function of the capsule on bacteria, the healing
agents were soaked in the simulated pore solution of con-
crete. OD600 refers to the absorption of the bacterial solution at
the wavelength of 600 nm. The absorption value was propor-
tional to the number of bacteria in the solution. The growth of
bacteria was commonly monitored by OD600 .The maximum
OD600 value within 36 h was used as the index to measure
the ability of spore recovery, and the growth curve of spores
loaded by the healing agent was measured every 7 d.
3.1.3. Concentration of Ca2+ in the solution in crack zone.
To measure the change capacity of the capsule-based healing
agent for the ion condition of the crack zone solution, the con-
crete sample was prepared added with capsules loading cal-
cium source. After the sample hardens, a crack with a width of
about 0.5 mm is prepared along the Middle Line of the sample.
Next, the water was injected into the crack zone. At every 24 h
intervals, the solution of the crack zone was extracted for the
measurement of calcium ion concentration. After extraction,
the water was injected into the crack zone immediately for
the next time measurement. The concentration of calcium ions
was quantified with Calcium ion meter (MP523-03).
X Zhang and C Qian
Stone (kg/m3 ) Water reducer (kg/m3 ) Dosage of capsules (kg/m3 )
1254 2.06 0
1254 2.06 29.5
1254 2.06 59
1254 2.06 88.5
3.2. Methods for the properties of concrete
3.2.1. General properties of concrete. The slump of the
fresh concrete was tested following China Standard GB50080-
2016 ‘Standard for test method of performance on ordinary
fresh concrete’. The experiments of compressive strength were
performed with a 10 cm × 10 cm × 10 cm sample. Then
the specimens were cured for 28 d in the standard conditions
where the temperature was 20 ± 2 ◦ C and the relative humidity
was not less than 95%. The compressive strength of hardened
concrete was tested following China Standard GB/T 50 081–
2019 ‘Standard for the test methods of concrete physical and
mechanical properties’.
3.2.2. Methods for the cracking area repair rate. Exper-
iments were conducted with φ10 cm × 10 cm cylindrical
sample. The curing environments were: the temperature
20 ± 2 ◦ C, RH ≥ 95%. After curing for 28 d, the specimens
were cracked. Then the cracked specimens were immersed in
water for 28 d at a curing temperature of 20 ± 2 ◦ C.
The images of the cracks before and after repair were col-
lected with a high-definition camera. The collected images
were imported into the Image J software for binary image pro-
cessing, and then the number of pixels occupied by the crack
area before and after the repair was read. The ratio of the num-
ber of pixels reduced by the repair to the total number of pixels
of the pre-repair crack area is considered as the area repair rate
(R). The larger the R is, the better the self-healing performance
is. The calculation formula of cracking area repair ratio R is
as follows [20]:
A0 − A1
R= × 100% (1)
A0
A0 representing the number of pixels occupied by the pre-
repair crack area, A1 representing the number of pixels occu-
pied by the post-repair crack area.
3.2.3. Methods for the properties of water impermeability.
The specimens prepared methods are the same as the crack-
ing area repair ratio test. Based on the amount of seepage in a
given time, the seepage coefficient (K) is calculated according
to Duthie’s law.
Q×L
K= (2)
A × ∆h
K is the water permeability coefficient with unit m/s. Q is
water flow with unit m3 /s. L is the length of the specimen with
3
Smart Mater. Struct. 29 (2020) 105035
Table 3. Mix proportion of concrete mixed with two kinds of healing agents.
No. Cement (kg/m3 ) Water (kg/m3 ) Sand (kg/m3 ) Stone (kg/m3 )
H0 412 165 590 1254
CH5 412 165 560.5 1254
S 412 165 580.17 1254
H representing healing agent. CH representing capsule-based healing agent. S representing spore powder healing agent. The number behind the letter
represents the addition percentage of healing agent.
unit m. A is the permeability area of the specimen with units
m2 . ∆h is the head difference with unit m.
The complexity of the problem is due to the difficulty of
Particle strengthen/N
ensuring the width of the crack consistency of samples, and
the relatively large difference between the measured water per-
meability is induced. Therefore, the water permeability coef-
ficient of the crack is transformed into a relative permeabil-
ity coefficient (k) to enable effective comparison between dif-
ferent samples. The permeability coefficient of the pre-repair
and post-repair crack is marked as K0 and K1, respectively.
The relative permeability coefficient k is the ratio of K1 to K0.
The smaller the k is, the better the self-healing ability of crack
is. The calculation formula of relative permeability coefficient
was as follows (3):
K1
k= (3)
K0
k is the relative permeability coefficient. K 1 is the permeabil-
ity coefficient of pre-repair crack with unit m/s. K 0 is the per-
meability coefficient of post-repair crack with unit m/s.
3.3. Identification of the crack repair products
The repair products in crack zone were tested using XRD tech-
niques.
4. Results and discussion
4.1. Strength of the capsule-based healing agent
The capsule-based healing agent should have certain phys-
ical strength: prevent the extrusion and shearing function on
the particles during the mixing process [12] on one side and
provide a certain physical space for spores against the extrac-
tion function of cement hydrate on the other side [21]. For
accurate single pellet crush strength, 100 particles were selec-
ted randomly and the results were shown in figure 3. The crush
strengths of the single-particle are shown between 60 N and
85 N and the average strength is 76 N. The lower and the higher
strength is most likely due to the uneven wall thickness of
the single-particle during the preparation process. The crush-
ing value of capsule-based healing agents is 18%. Accord-
ing to the Chinese National Standard ‘Sand for construction’
(GB/T14684), the particles can be used for the preparation of
C60 concrete.
4
X Zhang and C Qian
Water reducer (kg/m3 ) Dosage of healing agents (kg/m3 )
2.06 0
2.06 29.5
2.06 9.83
135
120
105
90
75
60
45
30
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
Particle number
Figure 3. Single-particle crush strength distribution plots.
4.2. The protective function of capsule for spore
The capsule should provide a suitable chemical space to avoid
the effects of high alkaline cement hydration products besides
the physical protective ability [21]. The resurrection ability of
encapsulated and non-encapsulated spore changes as a func-
tion of time is shown in figure 4. The maximum OD600 of
spores that can be reached within 36 h was 1.82 before soaked
in simulation solution. For unprotected spores, the resurrection
ability largely disappeared after soaked in the simulation solu-
tion for 28 d. For the spores under the protection of the capsule,
the resurrection ability is still at a good level after soaked in
the simulation solution for 203d. The maximum OD600 value
within 36 h was still about 1.8, and there was no significant
decrease compared with the untreated spores. The outer layer
materials offer adequate protection for loaded spores against
the high alkaline damage of the simulation solution.
4.3. The ability to change the conditions of the crack zone
solution
Some calcium resource was also added in the preparation pro-
cess of healing agents. Therefore, the calcium resource release
together with spores when concrete cracking. The calcium
resource dissolves and changes the ion conditions of the solu-
tion during the germination period of spores. The concentra-
tion of calcium ions has an important effect on the mineraliz-
ation rate. As can be seen from the data in figure 5, the max-
imum concentration of calcium ions increased to 7000 mg l−1
due to the added calcium resources. The concentration of cal-
cium ions is only 821 mg l−1 in the crack zone solution of the
specimen without healing agents. The total mass of calcium
carbonate that can be mineralized in the crack zone depends on
Smart Mater. Struct. 29 (2020) 105035 X Zhang and C Qian

2.0
1.8
1.6
1.4
1.2
OD600

1.0
0.8
0.6
0.4 Non-encapsulated spores
Encapsulated spores
0.2
0 21 42 63 84 105 126 147 168 189 210
Time (d)

Figure 4. Comparison of the resurrection ability of encapsulated

Figure 7. Slump of concrete mixture mixed with capsule-based
and non-encapsulated spores.
healing agent.

Figure 5. Ca2+ concentration of crack zone solution.

Figure 8. Compressive strengthen of concrete mixed with
capsule-based healing agent.

solution in the crack zone is 3.098 mmol on day 5. However,

the accumulative amount of calcium ions dissolution was only
0.481 mmol in the control group. Thus, calcium sources con-
tinue to dissolve, providing a large number of available cal-
cium ions for microbial mineralization. It can be concluded
that it is necessary to encapsulate some calcium sources in cap-
sules.

4.4. Influence of the capsule-based healing agent on

concrete mixture slump

For the capsule-based healing agent (figure 7), the slump of

Figure 6. Accumulative amount of Ca2+ dissolution.
the accumulated soluble calcium ions, which directly affected
the extent of the crack that can be repaired. As shown in fig-
ure 6, the cumulative amount of calcium ions dissolves in the
concrete mixed with a low mixture ratio (5%) of capsules has
not been significantly changed. While the dosage of capsules
was increased to 10% and 15%, the slump of the concrete mix-
ture increased by 43% and 81% respectively. This is because
the capsule is spherical and has a smooth appearance, it needs
less slurry to be wrapped than complex-shaped aggregate, and
has low flow friction resistance, which greatly improves the
fluidity of the mixture. On the other hand, the diameters of

5
Smart Mater. Struct. 29 (2020) 105035
Figure 9. Comparison of three kind concrete repair effect.
Figure 10. Comparison of the relative permeability coefficient
between three kinds concrete.
Figure 11. XRD spectrum of mineralization products obtained in
crack mouth.
capsule-based healing agents are 3–4 mm. The addition of cap-
sules causes the increase of fineness modulus, which will lead
to a decrease of the specific surface area of fine aggregate.
6
X Zhang and C Qian
Therefore, less cement paste is used to wrap the surface of fine
aggregate, more cement paste is available to lubricate aggreg-
ate, and finally, the fluidity of concrete is increased [22].
4.5. Influence of the capsule-based healing agent on
concrete compressive strengthen
It can be seen from figure 8 that the early and late compressive
strength of the concrete specimen has no significant changes
under the condition of low dosage (5%). However, the early
compressive strength of concrete is negatively affected when
the content of capsules increases, but the late strength is still
similar to the comparison group. Therefore, the compressive
strength development course of concrete may be changed with
a large amount of capsule-based healing agent addition.
4.6. Cracking area repair rate of concrete
The repair results for samples of three kinds of concrete are
shown in figure 9. Though there was no healing agent mixed
into ordinary concrete, it still shows some repair effect, and the
cracking area repair rate is 19% after 28 d. When mixing with
spore powder, the cracking area repair rate rose to 51% at 28 d.
The addition of a capsule-based healing agent led to the crack-
ing area repair rate continued to increase up to 95% at 28 d.
The repair effect significantly improved after adding a heal-
ing agent. For the cracks with 28 d cracking ages, the cracking
area repair rate adding with the capsule-based healing agent
is 44% higher than the one with spore powder. The reason
was apparent from the data in figure 4, it is difficult to main-
tain long-term activity for spores with the alkaline damage of
concrete simulated solution. The spores rapidly undergo apop-
tosis, which causes a drastic decrease of resurrected microor-
ganisms. Finally, the repair efficacy gradually deterioration as
the cracking date was delayed. To ensure a good level of the
repair effect, it is necessary to take some measures to protect
the spores. It should be explained that although the spore can-
not survive for more than 28 d in an alkaline solution, the crack
still shows some repair effect with 28 d cracking ages. The
reason is that the condition of the simulated pore solution may
Smart Mater. Struct. 29 (2020) 105035
be harsher than the actual inter conditions of concrete, it can
be considered as an accelerated erosion test, and the concrete
has some self-repairing ability.
4.7. The relative permeability coefficient of concrete
As can be seen from figure 10, for the weak self-healing
effect of the cement-based material, the relative permeability
coefficient of the concrete specimen without healing agents
decreases gradually with the increase of curing age, but the
decreasing extent is small (25%). For the concrete mixed with
spore powder, the self-healing ability of crack was improved
compared with the ordinary concrete and the relative per-
meability coefficient was decreased by 56%. This was due to
the unsatisfactory crack repair effect caused by spores apop-
tosis. For the concrete adding with the capsule-based healing
agent, the relative permeability coefficient of the crack is fur-
ther reduced up to 82%. This was consistent with the observa-
tion shown in figure 9. The cracks of concrete mixed with the
capsule-based healing agents were blocked by more mineral-
ized products resulting in a significant reduction of its water
permeability. Once again, the protective effect of the capsule
on spores was further verified.
4.8. Identification of the repair products in crack zone
As indicated before, the crack of concrete mixed with the
healing agent will be repaired by mineralized products, which
increases cracking area repair rate and decreases the relative
permeability coefficient. To specify the role of the healing
agent in the repair process, the XRD measurement was carried
out for the repair products. Results are shown in figure 11, the
main characteristic peaks of calcite appear at 2θ = 29.49◦ and
29.41◦ , corresponding to crystal planes (104), which indicates
that the main composition of mineralized products is calcite
[23]. This indicates that the microorganisms introduced by the
healing agent induce a large number of calcium carbonate min-
erals to repair the crack.
5. Conclusion
To obtain an effective way to protect spores employed to
improve the repair effect of late age crack, a new type healing
agent with a core–shell structure was prepared and the per-
formance was tested. The self-healing concrete was prepared
by replacing the same amount of fine aggregate with healing
agents, and the slump of fresh concrete, compressive strength,
and repair-ability of hardened concrete were tested.
• The designed capsule-based healing agent is with a core–
shell structure, the diameter ranges from 3 to 4 mm, and
the single-particle crush strength ranges from 60 to 85 N.
The inner layer used for the storage of healing components
(spores and calcium resources), the outer layer is a kind of
low alkaline material.
• The outer layer of the capsule can provide effective protec-
tion for the loaded spores, which can keep activity at least
7
X Zhang and C Qian
203 d under the erosion of the concrete pore simulated solu-
tion. Moreover, the concentration and cumulative amount
of calcium ions of the solution in the crack zone were sig-
nificantly improved by the capsule-based healing agent.
• The slump of fresh concrete will not change mixed with a
small amount of capsule-based healing agent. The fluidity
of fresh concrete will increase greatly over the increase of
the addition amount of spherical capsules. No obvious neg-
ative effect on the compressive strength was observed when
the dosage of capsules below 15%.
• Compared with the concrete mixed with spore powder,
the repair effect of the crack of the concrete mixed with
capsule-based healing is better. The protection of capsule
for spores makes it show an advantage in repairing the late
cracking age crack of concrete.
• The main mineral induced by microorganisms is calcite
type calcium carbonate, which is also the main repair
products of crack.
Acknowledge
This work was financially supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (51 738 003).
ORCID iD
Xuan Zhang  https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3313-9514
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