• Journal of the Korean Geotechnical Society
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• v.39 no.8
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• pp.41-48
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• 2023

Microbially induced calcite precipitation(MICP) is a novel cementation method meant to enhance soil engineering properties through the use of microorganisms. This study investigates the effect of different MICP concentrations on plant growth. Tall fescue seeds are grown in plant columns filled with Jumunjin sand. Following plant growth, the soil samples are treated with MICP via spraying method. The results indicate that the MICP-treated plants exhibit hampered growth compared with the untreated plants. pH and electrical conductivity(EC) tests are performed to analyze the changes in soil properties by MICP. The MICP-treated soils exhibit a pH = 7, similar to the untreated soil. However, the EC dramatically increases with the increase in the MICP concentration, which leads to an increase in the osmotic pressure of the soil surrounding the plant roots. Eventually, the higher osmotic pressure in MICP-treated soil hinders the absorption of water and nutrients in plant roots, thus inhibiting plant growth.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.22 no.2
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• pp.13-21
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• 2023

Mean sea level has recently been rising due to global warming causing coastal erosion. As Korea is peninsula, the land loss due to coastal erosion is critical. An approach in this study is cementing the coastal area using bacteria, which is called microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP). This study tried to see how fresh water and sea water work with MICP as a solvent. Ureolytic activity during the MICP reaction was measured with deionized and sea water. A soil column was prepared to evaluate the strength of MICP-treated sand. Sands were treated by MICP with surface percolation method. As the treatmen t style was different with other conventional methods, several methods were proposed to properly evaluate the MICP-treated sand surface. A micro-scale evaluation was performed to assess the mineral structure treated by different solvents. As results, sea water rendered the ureolytic reaction slower. A needle penetrometer worked well to evaluate the MICP-treated sand surface. This study confirmed the utilization of sea water is feasible as the solvent of MICP.

• Journal of the Korean Geosynthetics Society
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• v.23 no.3
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• pp.31-42
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• 2024

Coastal sand dunes are formed by the transport and deposition of sands by wind, and play a role in conserving ecosystems and safeguarding against natural disasters. While dunes possess a self-recovering ability from erosion, the ongoing reduction in coastal zones necessitates the countermeasures of coastal sand erosion. The potential of microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) technology, which enhances the ground's strength and stiffness, in increasing the erosion resistance of coastal sand dunes is explored in this study. A wind tunnel testing system was used to simulate the erosion behavior of coastal dune. Untreated and MICP-treated sands were prepared for the erosion tests. Using a 3D scanner, pre- and post-wind eroded sand surfaces were surveyed. The erosion behaviors and corresponding erodibility parameters were analyzed based on the wind tunnel testing results. The level of cementation was quantified by acid-washing the treated sands. Experimental results indicated an increase in CaCO₃, strength, and erosion resistance with higher MICP treatments. This study proposed a correction coefficient to correlate the shear stress by wind with the one by water. This study confirms the potential of applying MICP technology to mitigate wind-induced erosion in coastal sand dunes.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.35 no.1
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• pp.95-108
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• 2023

Soft soil ground is a crucial factor limiting the development of the construction of transportation infrastructure in coastal areas. Soft soil is characterized by low strength, low permeability and high compressibility. However, the ordinary treatment method uses Portland cement to solidify the soft soil, which has low early strength and requires a long curing time. Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is an emerging method to address geo-environmental problems associated with geotechnical materials. In this study, a method of bio-cementitious mortars consisting of MICP and cement was proposed to stabilize the soft soil. A series of laboratory tests were conducted on MICP-treated and cement-MICP-treated (C-MICP-treated) soft soils to improve mechanical properties. Microscale observations were also undertaken to reveal the underlying mechanism of cement-soil treated by MICP. The results showed that cohesion and internal friction angles of MICP-treated soft soil were greater than those of remolded soft soil. The UCS, elastic modulus and toughness of C-MICP-treated soft soil with high moisture content (50%, 60%, 70%, 80%) were improved compared to traditional cement-soil. A remarkable difference was observed that the MICP process mainly played a role in the early curing stage (i.e., within 14 days) while cement hydration continued during the whole process. Micro-characterization revealed that the calcium carbonate filling the pores enhanced the soft soil.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.33 no.2
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• pp.133-140
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• 2023

Soil erosion can cause scouring and failures of underwater structures, therefore, various soil improvement techniques are used to increase the soil erosion resistance. The microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) method is proposed to increase the erosion resistance, however, there are only limited experimental and numerical studies on the use of MICP treatment for improvement of surface erosion resistance. Therefore, this study investigates the improvement in surface erosion resistance of sands by MICP through laboratory experiments and numerical modeling. The surface erosion behaviors of coarse sands with various calcium carbonate contents were first investigated via the erosion function apparatus (EFA). The test results showed that MICP treatment increased the overall erosion resistance, and the contribution of the precipitated calcium carbonate to the erosion resistance and critical shear stress was quantified in relation to the calcium carbonate contents. Further, these surface erosion processes occurring in the EFA test were simulated through the coupled computational fluid dynamics (CFD) and discrete element method (DEM) with the cohesion bonding model to reflect the mineral precipitation effect. The simulation results were compared with the experimental results, and the developed CFD-DEM model with the cohesion bonding model well predicted the critical shear stress of MICP-treated sand. This work demonstrates that the MICP treatment is effective in improving soil erosion resistance, and the coupled CFD-DEM with a bonding model is a useful and promising tool to analyze the soil erosion behavior for MICP-treated sand at a particle scale.

• Journal of the Semiconductor & Display Technology
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• v.2 no.3
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• pp.7-11
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• 2003

In this research, the etching characteristics of via contact and deep contact hole have been studied using multi-pole inductively coupled plasma(MICP) etching system. We investigated Plasma density of MICP source using the Langmuir probe and etching characteristics with RF frequency, wall temperature, chamber gap, and gas chemistry containing Carbon and Fluorine. As the etching time increases, formation of the polymer increases. To improve the polymer formation, we controlled the temperature of the reacting chamber, and we found that temperature of the chamber was very effective to decrease the polymer thickness. The deep contact etch profile and high selectivity(oxide to photoresist) have been achieved with the optimum mixed gas ratio containing C and F and the temperature control of the etching chamber.

• Nuclear Engineering and Technology
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• v.54 no.10
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• pp.3631-3640
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• 2022

Uranium mill tailing ponds (UMTPs) are risk source of debris flow and a critical source of environmental U and Rn pollution. The technology of microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) has been extensively studied on reinforcement of UMTs, while little attention has been paid to the effects of MICP on U & Rn release, especially when incorporation of metakaolin and bacillus subtilis (MBS). In this study, the reinforcement and U & Rn immobilization role of MBS -MICP solidification in different grouting cycle for uranium mill tailings (UMTs) was comprehensively investigated. The results showed that under the action of about 166.7 g/L metakaolin and ~50% bacillus subtilis, the solidification cycle of MICP was shortened by 50%, the solidified bodies became brittle, and the axial stress increased by up to 7.9%, and U immobilization rates and Rn exhalation rates decrease by 12.6% and 0.8%, respectively. Therefore, the incorporation of MBS can enhance the triaxial compressive strength and improve the immobilization capacity of U and Rn of the UMTs bodies solidified during MICP, due to the reduction of pore volume and surface area, the formation of more crystals general gypsum and gismondine, as well as the enhancing of coprecipitation and encapsulation capacity.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.1
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• pp.85-96
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• 2023

Microbially induced carbonate precipitation (MICP) is extensively discussed as a promising topic for ground stabilization. The practical effect of stabilizing the expansive soil is presented in this paper with a logical process from the bacterial activity to the treatment technology. Temperature, pH, shaking frequency, and inoculation amount are discussed to evaluate the bacterial activity. The physic-mechanic properties are also evaluated to discuss the effect of the MICP process on expansive soil. Results indicate that the MICP method achieves the mitigation of expansion. The treated soil has a low proportion of fine particles (< 5 ㎛), the plasticity index significantly decreases, and strength values improve much. MICP process has a significant cementation effect on the soil matrix. Moreover, the infiltration model test presents the coating effect on the topsoil. According to the relation between the CaCO₃ content and the treatment effect, the topsoil has better treatment than the deeper soil.

• Proceedings of the Korean Society Of Semiconductor Equipment Technology
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• 2003.05a
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• pp.12-17
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• 2003

본 연구에서는 MICP Etching system 을 이용한 Via contact 및 Deep contact hole etch process 특성을 연구하였다. Langmuir probe 를 이용한 MICP source 의 Plasma density & electron temperature 측정하였고 탄소와 플로우르를 포함하는 혼합 Plasma 를 형성하여 RF frequency, wall temperature, chamber gap, gas chemistry 등의 변화에 따른 식각 특성을 조사하였다. Plasma density 는 1000w 에서 $10^{11}$/$cm^3$ 이상의 high density plasma와 uniform plasma 형성을 확인하였고 $CH_{2}F_{2}$와 CO의 적절한 혼합비를 이용하여 Oxide to PR 선택비가 10 이상인 고선택비 조건을 확보하였다. 고선택비 형성에 따라 Polymer 형성이 많이 되었고 이를 개선하기 위하여 반응 챔버의 온도 조절을 통하여 Polymer 증착 방지에 효과적인 것을 확인하였다. MICP source를 이용하여 탄소와 플로우르의 혼합 가스와 식각 챔버의 온도 조절에 의한 선택비 증가를 확보하여 High Aspect Ratio Contact Hole Etch 가능성을 확보하였다.

• Geomechanics and Engineering
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• v.32 no.3
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• pp.347-359
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• 2023

With the development of infrastructure, there is a critical shortage of filling materials all over the word. However, a large amount of silt accumulated in the lower reaches of the Yellow River is treated as waste every year, which will cause environmental pollution and waste of resources. Microbial induced calcium carbonate precipitation (MICP) technology, with the advantage of efficient, economical and environmentally friendly protection, is selected to solidify the abandoned Yellow River silt with poor mechanical properties into high-quality filling material in this paper. Based on unconfined compressive strength (UCS) test, determination of calcium carbonate (CaCO₃) content and scanning electron microscope (SEM) test, the effects of cementation solution concentration, treatment times and relative density on the solidification effect were studied. The results show that the loose silt particles can be effectively solidified together into filling material with excellent mechanical properties through MICP technology. The concentration of cementation solution have a significant impact on the solidification effect, and the reasonable concentration of cementation solution is 1.5 mol/L. With the increase of treatment times, the pores in the soil are filled with CaCO₃, and the UCS of the specimens after 10 times of treatment can reach 2.5 MPa with a relatively high CaCO₃ content of 26%. With the improvement of treatment degree, the influence of relative density on the UCS increases gradually. Microscopic analysis revealed that after MICP reinforcement, CaCO₃ adhered to the surface of soil particles and cemented with each other to form a dense structure.