Abstract
Alkali-activated materials are an emerging technology that can serve as an alternative solution to ordinary Portland cement. Due to their alkaline nature, these materials are inherently more electrically conductive than ordinary Portland cement, and have therefore seen numerous applications as sensors and self-sensing materials. This review outlines the current state-of-the-art in strain, temperature and moisture sensors that have been developed using alkali activated materials. Sensor fabrication methods, electrical conductivity mechanisms, and comparisons with self-sensing ordinary Portland cements are all outlined to highlight best practice and propose future directions for research.
Highlights
Monitoring and surveillance of civil infrastructure is required to ensure structural health and resilience in the face of degradation
It was again speculated that the difference in conductivities was due to the higher liquid-to-solid ratio used for metakaolin activated materials (AAM)
Stabilizes over a quicker period of time due to their quicker geopolymerization and higher chemical activity when compared to low calcium fly ash AAM [95]
Summary
Monitoring and surveillance of civil infrastructure is required to ensure structural health and resilience in the face of degradation. In a civil engineering context, self-sensing materials are components that can simultaneously detect measurands without the need of additional sensing instruments. AAM display similar mechanical properties to OPC and have been reported to attain high early age strength under both heat curing [10] and ambient curing [11] regimes. They present higher thermal [12] and chemical resistances [13] when compared to conventional OPC systems. Our hope is that this review will shed light on areas where further work on self-sensing AAM is required
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