High-performance pervious concrete using cost-effective modified vinyl ester as binder

Abstract

Pervious concrete has a unique open-skeleton structure and high permeability, which effectively control water runoff, mitigate urban heat island effects, and reduce traffic noise in urban constructions. However, low strength, easy granulation, and poor durability often limit its application in pavement engineering. As a polymer binder, vinyl ester (VE) resin has high strength, wear resistance, durability, and corrosion resistance, which can remedy the shortage of pervious concrete. In this work, by optimizing the aggregate gradation and curing temperature, high-performance pervious concrete using VE resin as binder was fabricated. To further improve the performance of VE binder, renewable acrylated epoxidized soybean oil (AESO) and diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI) were used to increase the crosslinking degree of the resin and the durability of pervious concrete. When using 15% AESO and 10% MDI based on the weight of VE, the pervious concrete achieved an enhanced flexural strength of up to 7.72 MPa. A significant improvement was achieved by incorporating 50 wt% solid wastes copper slag into the pervious concrete, the compressive strength and flexural strength reached 37.72 MPa and 7.53 MPa, respectively. The permeability coefficient of the permeable concrete was 2.64 mm/s, and the connected porosity was 11.33%, which are higher than the requirements of China national standard. The satisfactory durability of pervious concrete was also verified through freeze-thaw, abrasion, and aging tests. This work offers a viable strategy for cost-efficient and sustainable high-performance pervious concrete, providing insights into the utilization of renewable feedstocks and solid wastes in civil materials.