Concrete is one of the most used construction materials around the world. Given the high economic and ecological impact of cement production and crack repair in concrete structures, there is a need to develop more durable and sustainable structures. There is a growing use of blended cements, however, long-term durability of field concrete with various binder types is often not well reflected by results of short laboratory experiments. In the proposed research project, the secondary imbibition rate, related to water diffusion when the water front during a capillary absorption test reaches the maximum capillary rise, is proposed as a novel indicator for the long-term performance of concrete. Durability is also affected by the formation of cracks in concrete, through which aggressive agents (chlorides being the most influential ones) can penetrate faster and cause concrete deterioration and reinforcement corrosion. Addition of superabsorbent polymers (SAPs) to concrete can prevent early age cracking and their effect on the imbibition and deformations will be studied. Furthermore, novel silver-containing, multifunctional SAPs with tailored swelling behaviour will be synthesized. This will allow to combine internal curing, an increased freeze-thaw resistance and preservation of concrete strength with self-sealing and capturing of chlorides to prevent reinforcement corrosion.