Electrochemical study of corrosion inhibition of steel reinforcement in alkaline solutions containing phosphates based components

The aim of this study is to investigate the viability of use of sodium phosphate (Na3PO4: SP), tetrasodium pyrophosphate (Na4P2O7: TSPP) and hydroxyethylidene-diphosphonic acid (C2H8O7P2: HEDP) as a non-toxic corrosion inhibitors of steel bars in alkaline media which simulate the electrolyte in the concrete pores. The effectiveness of these phosphate compounds as corrosion inhibitors was investigated by measuring the corrosion potentials, the polarization curves, the corrosion current densities, and the electrochemical impedance spectroscopy of steel bars immersed for 30 days in saturated Ca(OH)2 solutions with and without chlorides. At the completion of the tests, the mass losses were determined in order to verify the reliability of the electrochemical results. The results showed that phosphate compounds form a protective layer on the steel surface when immersed in alkaline solution without chlorides. In the presence of chloride ions, the SP acts as an anodic inhibitor and reduces the corrosion activity on steel. The HEDP shows lower efficiency, probably due to the decrease of the pH and to the high [Cl−]/[inh] ratio used. Results obtained by electrochemical and gravimetric methods are in quite reasonable agreement.