Ageing process of cementitious materials: Ion transport and diffusion coefficient

Paper in proceeding, 2012

Risk assessment analysis concerning service life predictions of concrete structures in nuclear waste repositories requires broad knowledge about long-term concrete deterioration processes. It is well known that the degradation process of cementitious materials involves diffusion of internal and external ions, interaction between these ions and re-deposition of the interacted products. However, although diffusion properties play an important role in the deterioration process, there is a lack of reliable data on ion diffusivity in concrete, especially co-existing ions rather than chloride. The aim of this study is to further analyze multi-component ionic diffusion accompanied with surface complexation and selective adsorption. Natural diffusion cell and field immersion tests are used to analyze transport properties of ions present in groundwater surrounding nuclear waste repositories such as chloride, sodium, lithium and calcium ions, through cement paste. Analytical techniques such as Ion chromatography, potentiometric titration, inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and X-ray fluorescence methods are used. Results indicate that the ionic diffusion coefficients differ between different ions and the higher the concentration of the ions, the lower the diffusion coefficient will be.