Increasing the strength of cement and improving the corrosion resistance of rebar inside it using Fe2O3 nanoparticles

In this work, Fe2O3 nanoparticles were used to increase the cement strength and to increase the corrosion resistance of the rebar inside it. For this, the nanoparticles were added to the cement mortar with one percent of the cement weight. According to the ASTMC109 standard, bending and compressive strengths of 7 days and 28 days were obtained and compared with the control sample. The results showed that by adding this nanoparticle to cement, the bending and compressive strengths of cement mortar have been increased. To investigate the corrosion resistance of the rebar inside the cement mortar, polarization and Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS)tests in 3.5% sodium chloride solution were measured and evaluated. The results of the polarization test showed that by adding this nanoparticle to cement mortar, the corrosion current decreases and the corrosion potential increases. EIS measurements confirmed the increased corrosion resistance of rebar inside the cement. Finally, the reason for increasing the corrosion resistance is investigated by equivalent circuit simulation.