Salt & Vinegar crisp (chip) flavouring boosts longevity of concrete

The ingredient that helps give "salt & vinegar" potato crisps (chips) that tangy snap is the key to a new waterproof coating for protecting concrete from water damage, according to a study from Industrial & Engineering Chemistry Research.

Awni Al-Otoom and colleagues in Jordan point out that concrete's unique properties have made it the world's most widely used structural material.



Concrete, however, is so porous that water soaks in, corroding steel reinforcing bars and meshes that strengthen concrete roads and buildings and causing cracks as water expands and contracts during freeze-thaw cycles. Sealants are commercially available, but they have serious shortcomings, the study notes.

In the new report, researchers describe the use of sodium acetate as an inexpensive and environmentally friendly concrete sealant. One of sodium acetate's many uses is in flavoured potato crisps (chips).