Self-Healing of Concrete and Its Main Issues

Concrete is broadly used as an engineering material in construction because of its excellent mechanical, durability properties and relatively low cost as compared to other building materials (Araújo et al. in Mater Des 98:215–222, 2016 [10]; Dong et al. in Constr Build Mater 435:136836, 2024 [19]). However, concrete is susceptible to progression and coalescence in the micro-crack formation due to its inherent heterogeneity, low tensile strength and non-ideal service environment (Akbulut et al. in Buildings 15:1247, 2025 [7]; Khaliq et al. in Constr Build Mater 102:349–357, 2016 [30]; Krishnapriya et al. in Microbiol Res 174:48–-55, 2015 [32]). This major drawback of concrete does not only lead to low strength concrete with reduction of quality and durability but has become an open pathway for the ingress of water and harmful substances that vulnerable to the concrete. Lots of additives and admixtures are used to ensure the service life of concrete either by improving permeability or filling up cracks.