Resistance Against Calcium Chloride Attack of Alternative Binder-Based Sustainable Mortars

Nowadays, calcium chloride is commonly used as de-icer on roads and infrastructures to remove ice and snow, ensuring the safety of vehicles and pedestrian. The deterioration of Portland-based reinforced concretes exposed to CaCl2 is well known while no data are available for alternative and innovatie binding materials. This paper focuses on the resistance to chemical attach of mortars manufactured with different low-carbon binders such as alkali activated slag cements and calcium sulphoaluminate (CSA) cement-based blends in presence of calcium chloride-based de-icing salts in cold weathers. Results indicated that alkali activated slag-based mortars are quasi-immune to CaCl2 attack due to their mineralogical composition. On the contrary, calcium sulphoaluminate-based blends show strong deterioration, especially when CSA cement is used with gypsum and Portland cement. In this case, the total loss of binding capacity can be detected both in cold (4 ℃) and hot (38 ℃) climates.