Innovative Fungi Fiber Reinforced Soil for Sustainable Soil Improvements

本项目旨在探索一种创新的生物介导纤维增强土壤概念，可以显著提高土壤的抗侵蚀能力。由河流或风造成的土壤侵蚀会造成严重的环境和经济后果。据估计，美国农田土壤侵蚀造成的损失每年高达440亿美元。与建筑或采矿活动有关的风引起的土壤侵蚀，即粉尘，对空气质量产生负面影响，从而对工人、其社区和环境的健康产生负面影响。桥梁基础周围的土壤侵蚀（即桥梁冲刷）是桥梁破坏的首要原因。提高土壤抗侵蚀能力需要加强颗粒间的结合，这通常是通过使用石灰或水泥等化学品来实现的。然而，这种处理方法是不可持续的，因为这些化学品的生产消耗不可再生资源，并产生大量的碳足迹。本创新研究将利用土壤中丰富的微生物纤维真菌，通过：1)利用真菌诱导的生物黏附和纤维网络增强土壤微观结构；2)利用真菌纤维的疏水性，减少流动水引起的界面侵蚀剪切应力，实现对环境无害、可持续的土壤改良。该项目将为研究生和本科生提供跨学科研究课题的机会。招生工作将着重招收女性和少数民族学生。这项研究将被纳入教学材料。项目成果将通过凯斯西储大学校园内的各种推广活动以及与当地社区的合作进行传播。本研究的目的是了解真菌与土壤之间的多尺度相互作用，从而为如何定制真菌与土壤的相互作用来提高土壤抗侵蚀能力提供见解。本研究的研究目标包括：1)研究真菌与土壤的拓扑相互作用，真菌对土壤微观结构的适应和对生物刺激的响应，设计真菌纤维在土壤中生长的策略；2)了解真菌与土壤颗粒之间的物理化学相互作用，以指导真菌纤维对土壤工程行为影响的模型的发展；3)评估真菌对土壤宏观性能特性的影响，如土壤团聚性、纤维增强性、土壤水分特性和运输特性，以及这些特性如何提高土壤抗侵蚀能力。该研究将为真菌与土壤的相互作用提供基础知识，并量化它们对土壤工程特性的影响。它将为可持续土壤改良的生物介导岩土工程开辟新天地。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

This project aims to explore an innovative bio-mediated fiber reinforced soil concept that can significantly improve soil erosion resistance. Soil erosion by stream or wind causes significant environmental and economic consequences. The estimated cost of soil erosion on the US farmland is as high as $44 billion per year. Wind-induced soil erosion associated with construction or mining activities, i.e., dust, negatively impacts air quality and consequently the health of workers, their communities, and the environment. Soil erosion around bridge foundations (i.e., bridge scour) is the No. 1 cause of bridge failures. Improvement of soil erosion resistance requires enhancing the inter-particle bonds, which is commonly achieved by use of chemicals such as lime or cement. Such treatments, however, are not sustainable since the production of these chemicals consumes nonrenewable resources and produces significant carbon footprints. This innovative research will leverage fibrous fungi, a microorganism abundant in soils, to achieve environmentally-benign, sustainable soil improvement by: 1) reinforcing the soil microstructure with the fungi-induced bio-adhesion and fiber network, and 2) leveraging the hydrophobic nature of fungi fibers to reduce the interfacial erosive shear stress induced by flowing water. The project will provide graduate and undergraduate students opportunities to work on an interdisciplinary research topic. The recruitment efforts will emphasize involving female and minority students. The research will be incorporated into instructional materials. The project outcomes will be disseminated via a variety of outreach activities on the Case Western Reserve University campus and in collaboration with local communities. The goal of this research is to understand the multiscale interactions between fungi and soils, and therefore, offer insight on how fungi-soil interactions can be tailored to improve soil erosion resistance. The research objectives of this research include: 1) the study of topological interactions between fungi and soil, fungi adaptation to soil microstructure and response to bio-stimuli to design tactics to tailor the growth of fungi fibers in soil; 2) the understanding of the physico-chemical interactions between fungi and soil particles to guide the development of models describing the effects of fungi fiber on soil engineering behaviors; 3) the assessment of the effects of fungi on soil macroscopic performance properties, such as the soil aggregation, fiber reinforcement, soil water characteristics, and transport properties and how these improve the soil erosion resistance. The research will generate foundational knowledge on fungi-soil interactions and quantify their impacts on the soil engineering properties. It will break new ground in biomediated geotechnical engineering for sustainable soil improvement.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.