All-Solid-State Reference Electrode Based on Polymer Composites for Corrosion Monitoring of Steel in Concrete

Corrosion of steel structures has been found to be a problem Corrosion can be managed but not eliminated, so detecting corrosion will remain an issue no matter how effective corrosion prevention programs become. Electrochemical reaction is the basically process of steel corrosion in civil engineering, so electrochemical method is the best way to monitor corrosion grade. Liquid state reference is often used in lab to study steel corrosion by triple electrode system, but it is very difficultly used in steel bar corrosion monitoring in civil engineering. Firstly, liquid reference's life is, generally speaking, very short. The steel corrosion is a very slow process, corrosion monitoring should be tens of years, so the liquid reference's life is not long enough for corrosion monitoring; Secondly, the reference electrode's strength have to be very high. Obviously, liquid electrode reference can not meet the requirement. In this paper, a novel all solid state reference electrode (ASSRE) has been developed. There are three layers in the electrode. Four kinds of components have been included in first and second layer. Additional AgCl powder has been used to inhibit AgCl decrease which is on the surface of Ag wire by complexing effect. There is only one kind of component in third layer. There are four steps to prepare the reference electrode: electrolyze, pre-mixed components, modelling and sintering. Finally, the potential of ASSR has been measured by SCE.