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It is well known that cement manufacture, including CaCO3 calcination and clinker formation, is associated with substantial energy consumption and significant greenhouse gas emissions. Alkali-activated binders (AAB) and concretes made from them can significantly contribute to reducing CO2 emissions caused by the construction industry. However, to what extent and for how long concretes made from AAB can protect the steel in reinforced concrete components from corrosion is still unclear. Unlike PC-based binders, AABs are made by reacting alkaline solutions with solid precursors such as fly ash and ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS). Therefore, steel reinforcement corrosion mechanisms in AAMs differ from PC-based binders. The present study aims to evaluate the corrosion behavior of steel rebar in alkali-activated materials (AAMs) synthetic pore solution with different chemical concentrations representing different GGBFS and Flay Ash based binders by performing electrochemical tests to measure the corrosion rate and corrosion potential of steel rebar. This information can be used to improve the design of AAMs in order to ensure a longer service life for these materials.
Blast furnace cements (CEM III) and alkali-activated slags are binders for concretes with several advantageous engineering properties, and their increased adoption in construction industry could contribute to reducing the CO2 emissions associated with cement production and use. However, the current knowledge about how these cements protect steel reinforcement in concretes against corrosion is very incomplete, which impedes their large-scale application. This knowledge gap is mainly due to the fact that these cements release sulfide and other reduced sulfur species into the concrete pore solution, the consequences of which for the state of the reinforcement and electrochemical measurements are not fully understood.
The present contribution first describes peculiarities of electrochemical measurements of steel in sulfide-containing cementitious materials and related solutions as reported in the literature and a recent report by EFC Working Party 11. It is demonstrated that the high sulfide concentrations in these systems lead to low open circuit potentials and low polarisation resistances, which may be incorrectly interpreted as indicating active corrosion of the steel.
Second, preliminary results of an ongoing project [funded by the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG, German Research Foundation) – 458297195] related to the passivation and corrosion initiation of steel in sulfide-containing solutions and mortars are presented. Eight mortars based on one alkali-activated blast furnace slag (BFS), three alkali-activated BFS/fly ash blends, one sodium sulfate-activated CEM III/C (‘hybrid cement’), one CEM III/C, one CEM III/B, and one CEM I (ordinary Portland cement, OPC) were produced, and their pore solutions expressed and analysed after 7, 14, 28, and 56 days of curing. The pH values of the solutions differed systematically, with the highest pH values recorded for the CEM I and the alkali-activated BFS/fly ash blends with a high proportion of fly ash, and the lowest pH recorded for the CEM III/B. The redox potentials of the solutions were between −500 mV and −340 mV vs. Ag/AgCl for the alkali-activated binders, approx. +10 mV vs. Ag/AgCl for the CEM I, and in between for the CEM III/B and the CEM III/C. As expected, the electrical conductivity was highest for the alkali-activated binders. These results are explained by the chemical compositions of the pore solutions of the mortars.
Finally, a test set-up to investigate the behaviour of steel in sulfide-containing solutions and the changes on subsequent oxygen and/or chloride addition is introduced. Preliminary electrochemical measurements of steel in sulfide-containing solutions are presented and discussed in the context of the above-mentioned data from the literature and the compositions of the pore solutions of the studied mortars.