Anti-corrosion coatings

Ending concrete corrosion

Build, corrode, demolish, repeat. The concrete corrosion cycle bankrupts municipalities and creates massive carbon emissions. Ceramic Surface Treatment breaks the cycle.

Ending the corrosion cycle

Ceramic Surface Treatments (CST) address this at the source.

Concrete is highly porous, and that porosity is where corrosion begins. Carbonation, salts and freeze-thaw attack the surface, and the capillary voids let those contaminants seep deeper in. There they break down the cement binder. As the binder is lost, it can no longer protect the steel rebar, and the rebar corrodes.

Surface treatment with CeramycGuard™ can stop the corrosion cycle. It blocks contaminants from entering the concrete and protects the surface from chemical and physical attack. CeramycGuard works on both new and existing concrete. It restores, repairs and durably protects the asset. It will not delaminate, and it resists the common causes of corrosion and degradation: salts, carbonation, UV, moisture and thermal cycling.

CeramycGuard is a brush and roll application that heals and seals concrete, transforming the surface into a chemically bonded geopolymer composite.

Under the microscope (50x)

Concrete is porous. CeramycGuard is not.

Untreated concrete at 50x magnification showing an open porous surface — Untreated Open pore network lets contaminants in

CeramycGuard treated concrete at 50x magnification showing a sealed non-porous surface — CeramycGuard Sealed, non-porous, granite-like

Roman cement reborn

Geopolymers stand the test of time.

Geopolymer technology was first used by the ancient Egyptians around 2,600 BC, then adopted and improved by the Romans. Geopolymer cement is an analog of granite, a man-made stone. With it, the Romans built aqueducts, temples and the Colosseum. Those structures still stand today. Modern hydrating cements weather far faster.

Geopolymers are alumina-silica ceramic polymers: durable and inert, yet flexible. Their backbone is a network of silica tetrahedra linked by shared oxygen atoms (bridging oxygens). This tetrahedral polymer spirals like a coiled spring, so the structure can expand and contract with temperature swings without damage. Zirconia's use of nano and micro scale particles lets the coating cure at room temperature, with no kiln needed.

One treatment stabilizes vulnerable hydrating cement, chemically and physically, using the same geopolymer chemistry the Romans used. That chemistry bonds into the concrete and durably extends the life of the asset.

Resources

Protect the asset before corrosion sets in.

Talk to our technical team about the right ceramic surface treatment for your concrete infrastructure.

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