Novel enzymatic technologies to reduce embodied carbon across the entire lifecycle of concrete

Enzymatic is developing revolutionary enzyme-based technologies that leverage Materials Science and Biotechnology to dramatically lower embodied carbon in the built environment. As the demand for construction materials continues to rise, there is an urgent need to develop approaches to sustain this growth while lowering its carbon footprint and other negative environmental impacts. Enzymatic’s technologies will help the US address the need to grow and maintain its built environment sustainably and remain competitive in the growing global market for sustainable construction materials. Current approaches to prevent concrete permeability and corrosion are costly, limited in effectiveness, and negatively affect the plasticity and cure time of concrete. This Phase I SBIR focuses on our flagship innovation, the Enzymatic Corrosion Inhibitor (ECI). This innovation utilizes a patented, engineered Carbonic Anhydrase (CA), an enzyme found in all living organisms. When added into concrete, CA acts as a permeability reducer by combining atmospheric CO2 with calcium to form calcium carbonate, healing the cracks in concrete. Because CA is very small and does not get consumed in the process, ECI can be used in very low doses: only 250 milligrams can treat a cubic yard of concrete. Enzymatic’s goal is to commercialize ECI as an additive to include in concrete mixing to enhance durability and confer self-healing; an on-demand treatment to repair cracks and fractures; and a periodic prevention treatment for continued self-healing of cracks and corrosion, continually preserving the integrity of concrete structures. The self-healing and restorative properties provided by ECI will not only extend the service life of concrete but also reduce concrete repair waste and costs, thereby addressing multiple aspects of embodied carbon in built environment over its lifecycle. In this Phase I project, Enzymatic will establish technical and commercial feasibility by demonstrating that ECI can be produced at the necessary scales at an affordable cost and is efficacious across different types of concrete and in the presence of commonly used additives and corrosion inhibitors. Our objectives are: 1) Scale up production of ECI and produce a batch for testing. We have developed a novel production system to produce the large quantities of enzyme required to scale up our product. We will demonstrate scalability of our enzyme production system. 2) Demonstrate feasibility of ECI on a variety of concrete mixtures commercialized today. Validation will be performed both in-house and by third-party concrete testing experts.