Biorock
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in seawater in the presence of a small electric current to form an electrified reef Biorock (also seacrete ) is a cement-like engineering material formed when a small electric current is passed between underwater metal electrodes placed in seawater causing dissolved minerals to accrete onto the cathode to form a thick layer of limestone. This 'accretion process' can be used to create building materials or to create artificial 'electrified reefs' for the benefit of corals and other sea-life. Discovered by Wolf Hilbertz in 1976, biorock was protected by patents and a trademark which have now expired.
in seawater in the presence of a small electric current to form an electrified reef]] Biorock (also seacrete ) is a cement-like engineering material formed when a small electric current is passed between underwater metal electrodes placed in seawater causing dissolved minerals to accrete onto the cathode to form a thick layer of limestone. This 'accretion process' can be used to create building materials or to create artificial 'electrified reefs' for the benefit of corals and other sea-life. Discovered by Wolf Hilbertz in 1976, biorock was protected by patents and a trademark which have now expired.
Electrified reef
set up by Gili Eco Trust in Indonesia.]] Electrified reefs can be constructed using the Biorock process, which provides a substrate on which corals thrive, being very similar to that of a natural reef. The structural element of the reef can be constructed out of low-cost rebar metal, on which the rock will form, which can be created locally in a shape appropriate to the location and purpose. Power is supplied between this large metal structure (the cathode) and a much smaller anode. Coral also benefits from the electrified and oxygenated reef environment that forms around the cathode. High levels of dissolved oxygen make it highly attractive to marine organisms, particularly fin fish.
Patents
1981 (expired) 1984 (expired) 1984 (expired) 1996 (expired)
Trademark
The term Biorock was protected by a trademark between 2000 and 2010, but can now be used without restriction.
Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1371794892 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.