Investigation of soil stabilization using chitosan biopolymer

Abstract Recently, chitosan biopolymer has attracted several research attentions in geoenvironmental applications such as absorption of heavy metals in contaminated soils, reduction of soil erosion and hydraulic conductivity. However, the influence of chitosan incorporation on mechanical properties of soil has not been evaluated comprehensively. This study investigates the potential of clay soil stabilization using a biocompatible chitosan solution which synthesized from shrimp shell waste. The chitosan solution is used in different concentration to evaluate its potentials on mechanical properties of clay soil at different curing times and conditions. The results show that incorporation of chitosan has a potential to increase the interparticle interaction of the soil particles which leads to improved mechanical properties. However, the interparticle interaction is strongly dependent on time and moisture content of the soil, by which at wet condition chitosan solution provides an extra interaction between particles in early days while it lost its efficiency over times. The bond strength is inefficient at dry condition.