Project Summary
Transportation agencies are increasingly relying on the use of chemical deicers for winter roadway safety and mobility. However, excessive use of such deicers (mainly chloride-based salts) poses potential risks to the natural environment, transportation infrastructure and motor vehicles. Previous research has indicated that a road wearing course paved with mixtures containing chloride-based deicing additives (Cl-DIA) exhibited a higher level of self-ice-melting capacity compared to conventional asphalt mixtures. However, in addition to the concerns regarding long-term effectiveness, released chlorides can still cause pollution of the surrounding environment and corrosion in steel structure of vehicles and bridges. Therefore, there is a great need to develop a more sustainable deicing additive for asphalt mixture. The primary objectives of this project are to: (1) synthesize and characterize the new formate intercalated Zn-Al-Layered double hydroxide (ZnAl-FA-LDH); and (2) evaluate the self-deicing performance of the new LDH based additive and its effect on functional performance of asphalt mixture.
