Nanocarriers for Corrosion Control in Reinforced Concrete: The Concept, Justified Performance and Future Challenges
Authors: Koleva D A 
Published: February 2020

Civil infrastructure is built predominantly of steel-reinforced concrete components, rapidly deteriorating in severe operation conditions worldwide1. I emphasize the increasing need to improve structures’ performance, reflecting the challenge for conventional materials to outperform in a continuously changing environment, along with the sectors’ hesitation to employ synergetic concepts or novel materials.

For instance, the synergy of electrochemistry and concrete material science is the only viable approach to assess the corrosion state of steel or to control steel corrosion in civil structures. Next, nano-technology applications are still rare in construction2-4, which would otherwise break new grounds for both science and practice.

In a recent approach5-7 to control steel corrosion in reinforced concrete, polymeric nano-carriers, otherwise used in medical or bio-technological applications8-10, were employed, targeting localized treatment. The presence of minuscule amounts of these nano-carriers, and their transformation, governed by reactions of chemical and electrochemical nature, awakened the main objective of corrosion (and degradation, respectively) control.

This contribution presents the concept of self-healing of corrosion damage in reinforced concrete, highlights its main outcomes, and outlines future perspectives on applications, employed to tailor-made corrosion control for reinforced concrete, modified by nano-carries.

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