Thermal insulating coating mortars with mining and steel residues and the proposition of a “thermal insulating admixture”

The present work developed a thermal insulating coating/plastering mortar from the complete replacement of the natural aggregate by friable quartzite (QTZ), with the addition of steelmaking slag powder (SSP). Despite having promising characteristics, no studies so far have taken advantage of the thermal insulating properties of the SSP. Initially, the QTZ and PEA were characterized according to physical, chemical, mineralogical, and morphological analyses. The mortars were prepared with Portland cement, hydrated lime, air-entraining admixtures (AEA), fine aggregates, and SSP. Four mixes were produced: (1) reference (REF) (with natural sand); (2) QTZ + AEA (NO SSP); (3) QTZ + AEA + 5