A new method for determination of chloride flux in cement-based materials from chronoamperometry

Abstract A new method for exploitation of chloride electrodiffusion test is proposed in this work. This method allows calculating chloride flux through a porous medium in steady state by using current transfer with basic electrolyte (without NaCl) and with total electrolyte (after NaCl addition). Currents are obtained experimentally from chronoamperometry. Comparisons of results obtained by this new model with those obtained by a classical dosage of chlorides in the downstream solution of the cell were carried out for three compositions of cement pastes. The results of the model seem to be closer to those of experimental dosage. This preliminary work shows that it is not necessary to measure chloride concentration in upstream or downstream cell, but a simple chronoamperometry suffices to obtain chloride flux, hence the diffusion of chloride ions.