The corrosion properties of steel in pore solutions obtained from alkali-activated mortars

Abstract

Alkali-activated materials (AAMs) are considered a promising alternative to materials made from ordinary Portland cement (OPC). Other than considering the durability of the material itself, the use of AAMs for reinforced concrete elements also raises the question of steel corrosion processes in these materials, which are still relatively unknown. Three different alkali-activated mortars were prepared for this study, based on either fly ash, slag, or metakaolin. Pore solutions were then extracted from each mortar and chemically analyzed. Electrochemical techniques were used to study the corrosion of steel in synthetic pore solutions containing varying concentrations of chlorides. In parallel, the same corrosion tests were performed in a generic pore solution representing OPC mortar. It was shown that the chemical composition differed in each pore solution tested, thus affecting the corrosion properties of the steel. The addition of chloride also had a varying effect on the corrosion properties of the steel in each type of pore solution tested. This study provided a basic overview of the corrosion behavior and mechanisms of the various AAM environments in comparison to that of OPC.