THE US HAS AROUND 165,000 MILE LONG REINFORCED CONCRETE PAVEMENTS (RCPS). SEVERE CORROSION DAMAGE OF EMBEDDED REBARS DUE TO CHLORIDE IONS FROM ROAD DEICERS NECESSITATES EXPENSIVE REPAIR OR REPLACEMENT OF RCPS. AMERICANS LOST AROUND $160 BILLION IN DELAYS AND FUEL COSTS DUE TO ROAD CLOSURES IN 2014. EXISTING STAND-ALONE CORROSION MITIGATION METHODS ARE FOUND TO BE INADEQUATE, HIGHLIGHTING THE NEED FOR A COMPREHENSIVE APPROACH.IN OUR RECENT STUDIES, WE FOUND THAT THE POLYOL MOLECULES AND COMPOUNDS IN CORN AND BEET JUICE ADSORB TO THE REBAR SURFACE, FORMING A MOLECULAR-SCALE LAYER LOWERING THE CORROSION RATES UP TO 92%. WE HYPOTHESIZE THAT THE CORROSION IN THE REBARS EMBEDDED IN CONCRETE CAN BE MITIGATED BY CONSTANTLY SUPPLYING AGRO-DERIVED CORROSION INHIBITORS DURING THE LIFE OF THE RCPS. THE OVERARCHING GOAL OF THIS RESEARCH IS TO DEVELOP A THREE-PRONGED SYNERGISTIC BIO-BASED CORROSION INHIBITOR SYSTEM FOR MITIGATING CORROSION IN RCPS. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES ARE:1. TO DEVELOP A COATING, NATURAL FIBER CORROSION INHIBITING ADMIXTURE, AND A MIGRATORY CORROSION INHIBITOR FROM AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS THAT CAN ACT SYNERGISTICALLY TO MITIGATE CORROSION IN RCPS2. TO QUANTIFY THE CORROSION INHIBITION POTENTIAL OF THE ENVISAGED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCTS, AND TO UNDERSTAND THE ROLE OF SYNTHESIS DESIGN PARAMETERS3. TO IDENTIFY CRUCIAL DESIGN PARAMETERS AND TO MODEL THE CORROSION INHIBITION POTENTIAL OF PROPOSED BIO-BASED CORROSION INHIBITION PRODUCTSCOMMERCIALIZATION OF THE PROPOSED BIO-BASED INHIBITORS CREATES NEW JOBS, EXPANDS THE UTILIZATION OF CORN, SOYBEAN, BEETS, AND WHEAT, GENERATING AN ADDITIONAL ANNUAL INCOME TO THE US FARMERS ALIGNING WELL WITH THE PRIORITIES OF THE PROGRAM.
$163,220FY2024National Institute of Food and AgricultureUSDA
Arizona State University, Scottsdale AZ