So since 2013, I’ve been trying to figure out how these harmful cracks could heal themselves without human intervention. The idea was originally inspired by the amazing ability of the human body to heal itself of cuts, bruises and broken bones. A person takes in nutrients which the body uses to produce new substitutes to heal damaged tissues. In the same way, can we provide necessary products to concrete to fill in cracks when damage happens?
My Binghamton University colleagues Guangwen Zhou and David Davies, Ning Zhang from Rutgers University and I have found an unusual candidate to help concrete heal itself: a fungus called Trichoderma reesei.
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