Sustainability in Ground Improvement: The Case of Xanthan Gum Biopolymer

Prof. Dr. Eng. Abdel-Mohsen O. Mohamed earned his PhD from McGill University, Canada, where he was later employed as the Associate Director of the Geotechnical Research Centre and Lecturer at the Department of Civil Engineering and Applied Mechanics. He has held many senior positions in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), including Associate Provost and Chief Academic Officer at Zayed University, Dean of Research and Graduate Studies at Abu Dhabi University, and Research Director at the UAE University. He has 14 patents in areas of sustainable use of elemental sulfur and alkaline solid wastes, production of sulfur cement and concrete, carbon sequestration and utilization for treatment of solid wastes, and stabilization of sand dunes. He has authored and co-authored 21 scientific books and has published over 390 papers in refereed journals and international conference proceedings. He has been the recipient of several university and nationwide research accolades. He is the General Managing Director of EX Scientific Consultants, Abu Dhabi, UAE, Senior Advisor, Uberbinder, Inc., Seattle, Washington, USA and Uberbinder Limited, Oxford, UK, and an Editorial Board Advisor for number of Scientific Journals.

Dr. Brendan C. O'Kelly has worked in academia for the past 30 years; first at University College Dublin, Ireland, in the roles of Assistant Lecturer in Civil Engineering, Pierce-Newman Fellow in Civil Engineering, and Research Fellow in Soil Mechanics. He then gained employment as a geotechnical engineer with Scott Wilson Consulting Engineers, UK, before joining the University of Dublin, Trinity College Dublin (TCD), Ireland, where he is an Associate Professor in Geotechnical Engineering, and Fellow of TCD. His main research interests are soil stabilization/ground improvement, investigating the geomechanical behavior/properties of various problematic soils, and the Atterberg (consistency) limits and soil classification, authoring or co-authoring over 180 peer-reviewed journal articles on these topics.

Dr. Amin Soltani is a Lecturer (Assistant Professor) and Undergraduate Program Coordinator of Civil Engineering in the Institute of Innovation, Science and Sustainability at Federation University, Australia. He also holds an Honorary/Adjunct Fellow affiliation with the Department of Infrastructure Engineering at the University of Melbourne, Australia. Amin completed his PhD in Civil and Environmental Engineering (specializing in Geotechnical Engineering) at the University of Adelaide, Australia. Before his current appointment, Amin was a Research Fellow in Geotechnical Engineering at the Universities of Melbourne and Adelaide, where he played a significant leading role in the advancement of numerous high-profile research projects in collaboration with reputable industry partners, city councils, road authorities and state government agencies in South Australia and Victoria. Amin is a Chartered Professional Engineer with Engineers Australia. His principal research interests lie in the fields of Experimental (and Physics-Informed, Data-Driven) Soil Mechanics and Sustainable Geomaterials; the latter involving the development of novel high-performance geomaterials for a variety of civil engineering applications, including, for instance, road infrastructure, thereby fostering sustainable and resilient infrastructure systems for future generations. Amin has been the recipient of several university and nationwide research awards, including the prestigious VESKI Victoria Fellowship in 2022. He has co-authored over 70 peer-reviewed journal articles, and serves as Editorial Board Member for a number of international journals.

Introduction.- Production and structural conformation of xanthan gum.- Rheology of xanthan gum.- Xanthan gum-soil interaction.- Cohesive bonding and energy of interaction between xanthan gum and soil minerals.- Strength and compressibility of xanthan gum-treated soils.- Hydraulic conductivity of xanthan gum-treated soils.