The PRIN 2022M4KCKP ECOforCONCRETE project “Smart and eco-sustainable materials for the long-term and safe protection of concrete heritage,” of the Ministry of University and Research, funded by the European Union- Next Generation EU, Mission 4 Component 1 CUP B53D23013820006, involves CNR-ISMN, as coordinator, and Sapienza University of Rome. The research activities are aimed at the development of new sustainable and multifunctional materials that can provide effective long-term preservation of reinforced concrete cultural heritage. 

Specifically, the activities of the CNR-ISMN research group have been directed in recent years to the development of smart corrosion inhibitors capable of releasing protective species only in the presence of degrading agents, to achieve targeted and long-term protective action. This work, carried out under the European H2020 InnovaConcrete project, has proved the possibility of successfully using smart corrosion inhibitors to inhibit the corrosion of steel bars embedded in concrete structures. 

Alongside this, researchers at Sapienza University of Rome have been working over the past few years on the development of new salt crystallization inhibitors, as part of a collaborative study with the University of Perugia that has resulted in the filing of a Patent. 

Within this project, corrosion and salt crystallization inhibition systems will be combined for the first time to develop an innovative multifunctional material. Activities will be mainly directed toward the use of sustainable materials and methods and the improvement of protective effectiveness, taking into account the requirements for applications in the cultural heritage sector: conservation treatments must be non-invasive and preserve the aesthetic properties of the treated surface. Two different approaches will be used: 

(i) the development of new products to be applied on the surface of existing reinforced concrete structures 

(ii) the development of new building materials that incorporate the protective species in their matrix. 

The new protective materials will be validated at a laboratory scale and the results will be used to define innovative treatments for the effective, safe and long-term preservation of reinforced concrete cultural heritage. The output of this project will contribute to the creation of new knowledge and pave the way for applications, in later stages, to non-historic structures, such as bridges, tunnels and major reinforced concrete structures.