RII Track-4: NSF: Bio-inspired Solutions to Prevent Soil Erosion in Farmland and Scouring in Fluvial Regions

RII Track-4：NSF：防止农田水土流失和河流地区冲刷的仿生解决方案

• 批准号: 2327384
• 负责人: Aritra Banerjee
• 金额: $ 29.98万
• 依托单位: South Dakota State University
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2024
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2024-02-01 至 2026-01-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2327384&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: RII; Track; NSF; Bio; inspired

Soil erosion has affected the fertility of the land, agricultural productivity, and crop health in many regions of the USA, and climate change is expected to worsen this issue. Traditionally, weak soils have been stabilized by cement or lime; however, such measures are not environmentally friendly and may not be suitable for all types of soils, such as sulfate-rich soils. Therefore, the biostabilization of soils using biofilms has been proposed to sustainably address these problems. Biofilms are naturally occurring microbial communities enclosed in a protective layer. Biofilm-treated soils are anticipated to bind soil particles together, enhancing strength and reducing soil erosion and scouring. In this study, problematic soils were treated with biofilms like dental biofilm and sulfate-reducing bacteria (SRB) to increase their strength. These novel biofilms represent the first attempts to enhance soil properties. The higher organic content in biofilms will increase soil fertility and agricultural productivity, allowing for carbon storage in soils, which helps address climate change. There is significant potential for dental biofilm and SRB to be beneficial in other disciplines, such as developing drought-resistant crops, self-healing concrete, mitigating coastal dune migration, enhancing slope stability, reforestation after wildfires, and more.This Research Infrastructure Improvement Track-4 EPSCoR Research Fellows (RII Track-4) project will provide a fellowship to an Assistant professor and training for a graduate student at South Dakota State University. This work will be conducted in collaboration with researchers at Arizona State University. The objective of the project is to investigate the feasibility of using dental biofilms and SRB to enhance the strength of soils, thereby mitigating soil erosion and scouring, and improving agricultural productivity and the resilience of civil infrastructure such as embankments and bridges. The inspiration for this project stems from the observation that dental plaque or biofilms, once hardened, require specialized tools to dislodge them from teeth. If such a process can be replicated to bind soil particles together using dental biofilms, it will result in stronger soils that are resistant to erosion, potentially mitigating scouring near bridge foundations. SRB is anticipated to remove available sulfate from the soil before the application of lime, which is needed for better crop growth. The absence of sulfate ions in the soil will prevent the formation of highly expansive mineral ettringite, thereby mitigating sulfate-induced heave. A series of strength-based and volume change tests, along with freeze-thaw tests, have been planned to study the feasibility of inoculating these biofilms in soils. Preliminary studies will be conducted to investigate the increase in soil fertility and the mitigation of scouring using dental biofilms and SRB. The success of these techniques has the potential to be revolutionary and may aid in carbon sequestration. The project will contribute to enhancing our knowledge of soil-biofilm interactions under different climatic conditions by better understanding the rate of growth and optimal conditions required for the attachment and growth of such biofilms, as well as the rate of increase in the strength and moisture retention capacity of bio-stabilized soils.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

土壤侵蚀影响了美国许多地区的土地肥力、农业生产力和作物健康，而气候变化预计会使这一问题变得更加严重。传统上，软弱的土壤是通过水泥或石灰来稳定的。然而，此类措施并不环保，可能并不适合所有类型的土壤，例如富含硫酸盐的土壤。因此，有人提出利用生物膜对土壤进行生物稳定来可持续地解决这些问题。生物膜是封闭在保护层中的自然存在的微生物群落。经过生物膜处理的土壤有望将土壤颗粒粘合在一起，增强强度并减少土壤侵蚀和冲刷。在这项研究中，使用牙齿生物膜和硫酸盐还原菌 (SRB) 等生物膜处理有问题的土壤，以提高其强度。这些新型生物膜代表了增强土壤特性的首次尝试。生物膜中较高的有机含量将提高土壤肥力和农业生产力，从而在土壤中储存碳，从而有助于应对气候变化。牙科生物膜和 SRB 在其他学科中具有巨大的潜力，例如开发抗旱作物、自修复混凝土、减轻沿海沙丘迁移、增强斜坡稳定性、野火后重新造林等。该研究基础设施改进轨道-4 EPSCoR 研究人员 (RII Track-4) 项目将为南达科他州立大学的助理教授提供奖学金并为研究生提供培训。这项工作将与亚利桑那州立大学的研究人员合作进行。该项目的目标是研究利用牙科生物膜和SRB增强土壤强度的可行性，从而减轻水土流失和冲刷，提高农业生产力和土木基础设施（如路堤和桥梁）的复原力。该项目的灵感源于观察到牙菌斑或生物膜一旦硬化，就需要专门的工具将它们从牙齿上去除。如果可以复制这样的过程，利用牙齿生物膜将土壤颗粒粘合在一起，就会产生更坚固的耐侵蚀土壤，从而可能减轻桥梁基础附近的冲刷。 SRB 预计会在施用石灰之前去除土壤中的可用硫酸盐，这是作物更好生长所必需的。土壤中不含硫酸根离子将阻止高膨胀矿物钙矾石的形成，从而减轻硫酸盐引起的隆起。计划进行一系列基于强度和体积变化的测试以及冻融测试，以研究将这些生物膜接种到土壤中的可行性。将进行初步研究，以调查使用牙齿生物膜和 SRB 提高土壤肥力和减轻冲刷的效果。这些技术的成功具有革命性的潜力，可能有助于碳封存。该项目将通过更好地了解此类生物膜附着和生长所需的生长速率和最佳条件，以及强度和保湿性的增加速率，有助于增强我们对不同气候条件下土壤-生物膜相互作用的了解该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。