Advanced Coating Barriers for the Protection of Reinforced Concrete and Pavement, 3rd Edition

Dear Colleagues,

Concrete has become the most widely used construction material since its invention. Reinforced concrete, comprising steel within concrete, can withstand both compressive and tension forces. The requirements for concrete raw materials, such as natural stones and river sand, have been increasing, especially in developed countries where massive amounts of infrastructure are being built. The consumption of these materials is incredibly rapid, and in some cases, there is already a limited local supply. This trend has led to the requirement of a longer service life of reinforced concrete structures.

Reinforced concrete structures can be subjected to different environmental actions; these include, for example, steel corrosion in concrete caused by chloride ions from marine environments and where deicing salts are used, and carbonation by CO₂ in the atmosphere. Immersed concrete structures can suffer from sulfate attack when sulfate ions are present in the surrounding water. The corrosion of steel in concrete has become the most important durability and safety concern for reinforced concrete structures. Additionally, cracks may facilitate the ingress of these harmful substances into concrete and thereby accelerate the corrosion process of steel. All of these affect the service life of reinforced concrete structures.

Effective coating barriers can provide protection to reinforced concrete in withstanding the effects of harmful substances. Effective coating barriers include coatings on concrete surfaces and steel surfaces. The coatings on concrete surfaces can be made of silane or other waterproof materials that prevent the ingress of water. Epoxy can be used as the coating on the steel surface, which isolates the steel from harmful substances. Other innovative coatings can also be applied. There is an urgent demand to understand the performance of these coatings, especially their long-term performance, including in terms of bonding loss, degradation, etc.

For this Special Issue, topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following:

• Long-term performance of coatings on steel or concrete surfaces in reinforced concrete;
• Degradation mechanisms of coatings;
• Epoxy coatings on steel in concrete;
• Silane coatings on concrete surfaces;
• Innovative coatings on concrete surface, such as waterproof coatings, breathable coatings, etc.

Dr. Junjie Wang
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Coatings is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2600 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.