Investigation of Electrophoresis as a Novel Coating Mechanism for Sealing Concrete

The U.S. Government is a heavy user of concrete structures for below-grade facilities, waterway, and marine applications. High hydraulic permeability of the concrete in these structures produces water intrusion into protected areas and accelerated corrosion of structures beyond their useful limits, necessitating costly maintenance, repairs and replacement. In response to this overwhelming problem, SHOT proposes to develop a novel coating system that uses electrophoresis for sealing concrete. Our research suggests that through an electrophoretic process, nanometer scale particles can be migrated into hardened cement paste, resulting in dramatically lower hydraulic permeability. Our previous experience in developing electrophoretic hardware provides an ideal foundation for the development of new hardware for application of this unique process. Our team will design and develop an ideal sealant/coating solution, as well as the equipment required to test coated concrete samples for their hydraulic permeability. The results of this testing and analysis will guide SHOT in designing equipment and optimizing the treatment coating solutions. The end product expected is a viable and effective concrete coating system we have called the SHOTr Electrophoretic Sealing System, which we plan to market under the trade name E-Seal.