Durability behavior of polymer impregnated carbon textiles in alkaline solution as CP anode

Abstract

Cathodic corrosion protection (CP) is a cost‐effective option for maintenance of concrete structures. CP is an electrochemical method that can be used to reduce the corrosion rate to an acceptable level. Thus, service life of reinforced concrete can be increased considerably. In this work, carbon textiles with varying polymer impregnations, cross sections, and mesh widths have been used as CP anodes and have been tested for their durability. The main goal of this research is to determine the behavior of carbon textile under permanent anodic polarization while stored in saturated calcium hydroxide solution. The outcome will serve as a basis for further investigations in which textiles will be permanently polarized and tested after embedding in mortar.

Damage Mechanisms of Polymer Impregnated Carbon Textiles Used as Anode Material for Cathodic Protection

“…Figure 8 shows the SEM images of the carbon fibre E4 without polarization and after the polarization. No pores can be seen on the entire reference specimen (Figure 8(a)) in contrast to previous findings [12]. There were only a few of them, as well as defects.…”

“…As an anode material, the styrene-butadiene rubber (SBR) impregnated textile S4 was selected because this material achieved the highest current densities and thus best polarization behaviour in former experiments [12]. For reasons of comparability, the epoxy impregnated textile E4 was taken which has the same mesh size as S4.…”

“…The SEM investigations of S4 and E4 before and after polarization in Asgharzadeh et al [12] showed a destruction of the impregnation material. There was not investigated, whether the sizing under the impregnation was affected or not.…”

“…Earlier research [10][11][12] has shown that carbon textile is a suitable anode-material for corrosion protection (CP). Various experiments were conducted in order to investigate the behaviour of carbon textiles under anodic polarization.…”

“…Asgharzadeh et al [12] investigated the durability of impregnated carbon textile under permanent anodic polarization while stored in saturated calcium hydroxide solution. Carbon textile was potentiodynamically polarized in saturated calcium hydroxide solution.…”