Laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy in cementitious materials: A chronological review of cement and concrete from the last 20 years

A chronological review is provided of the progress achieved in the last two decades in the use of the Laser-Induced Breakdown Spectroscopy (LIBS) technique on cementitious materials analysis. The first part of this review provides a brief overview of LIBS equipment and chemometric approaches to LIBS analysis. The second part of the review describes LIBS applications for concrete and cement analysis, such as elemental identifications, qualitative and quantitative analysis, and optimized LIBS systems. The detection of elements such as Cl and S was highlighted in applications in the early 2000s, followed by element quantification and, more recently, the reduction of their limit of detection (LOD) through LIBS setup improvements. The potential and versatility of LIBS in the analytical analysis of cementitious materials are highlighted in chronological order. Finally, some critical final considerations are provided, followed by a future perspective on cement and concrete applications.