Recent Advances in the Use of Inhibitors to Prevent Chloride-Induced Corrosion in Reinforced Concrete

Rebar corrosion is one of the most important phenomena affecting durability of reinforced concrete structures. Corrosion inhibitors are considered an effective preventative technique to delay the onset of corrosion and/reduce the corrosion rare. Substances can be both organic and inorganic in nature. Besides the well-known effectiveness of nitrite-based inhibitor, new organic and inorganic substances have been investigated as alternative to face safety and environmental issues related to sodium or potassium nitrites. From the ‘90s, a wide number of organic substances were studied, including amines, alkanolamines, carboxylates and mixtures of esters. The present literature review is focused on the effectiveness of the most commonly used inhibitors as nitrites and amines. The use of nitrates, new organic and green compounds, i.e., natural substances typically extracted from plants, are investigated as potential corrosion inhibitors.