Measurement and evaluation of cement paste porosity by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy

Abstract

Porosity is an important part of cement paste microstructure, which significantly influences the mechanical properties (especially durability and strength) of cement-based materials. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) is a non-destructive method used to measure the pore system utilizing a range of frequencies of electric current, which is fed to the cement paste by stainless steel electrodes. The pore volume is obtained from the pore resistance and the matrix capacitance measured by EIS. This paper deals with the evaluation of porosity based on resistance values from EIS on a sample of pure CEM I 42.5R Portland cement paste at 3 different hydration times (age 7, 14, 28 days).