Surface treatments of substrates suitable for construction industry

 
Energy consumption and CO2 emission on the construction sector has been a major concern worldwide, leading to the development of new and more energy and environmental friendly technologies. This project aims the development of new technology routes to integrate waste materials in the production cycle of concrete, resulting in an innovative light-weight, eco-compatible, energy efficient and costeffective construction material. The presented work focused on the development of physic-chemical superficial treatments to properly calibrate the hygroscopicity (water absorption) of recycled foamed aggregates, as well as to improve their adhesion to the binder paste. Water absorption is an important parameter in the mix-design and it influences the characteristics of concrete in the fresh and hardened state. Also, the adhesion between the aggregates and the cement-matrix is a significant issue, since it affects the mechanical behavior of the resulting concrete. In both cases, performed superficial treatments were properly evaluated and showed promising results.