Abstract
Road icing in winter very easily poses a threat to driving safety. The application of road snow melting agent can improve this problem, but current road snow melting agents pose a threat to the environment and road infrastructure. The purpose of this study is to prepare a low-carbon, environmentally friendly road snow melting agent and explore its performance. In this study, low-carbon salts were selected as raw materials, and the components of low-carbon environmentally friendly snow melting agents were optimized by simplex center-of-gravity design. Then, the indoor and outdoor ice-melting performance and environmental protection performance of low-carbon environmentally friendly road snow melting agent were studied. Finally, the low-carbon environmentally friendly snow melting agent was incorporated into the asphalt mixture to prepare a low-carbon, environmentally friendly anti-icing asphalt mixture, and its anti-icing performance was evaluated. The results showed that a large concentration of low-carbon environmentally friendly road snow melting agent had an inhibitory effect on the corrosion of carbon steel, and the effect of such an agent on plant seeds was smaller than that of traditional chlorine salt road snow melting agent. The low-carbon, environmentally friendly anti-condensation ice asphalt mixture showed good anti-condensation ice performance; in particular, the anti-condensation ice asphalt mixture prepared by external mixing method shows more obvious anti-condensation ice performance. The optimum ratio of low-carbon, environmentally friendly road snow melting agent is 23.9% potassium acetate, 27.4% sodium acetate, and 48.7% ammonium acetate.
1 Introduction
Snow and ice on roads in winter reduce the adhesion coefficient of vehicle tires to the road surface. The adhesion coefficient between snow-covered soft pavement and vehicle tires is between 0.20 and 0.40 and between compacted snow pavement and vehicle tires is between 0.15 and 0.50. However, the adhesion coefficient of iced pavement is only 1/8–1/4 that of dry pavement (; ). Snow icing reduces road surface adhesion and worsens the driving stability and braking of vehicles. In particular, the phenomenon of black ice, which is formed when driving on asphalt pavement, is difficult for drivers to identify in time, resulting in a large number of traffic accidents (). Therefore, the timely removal of road ice and snow in winter is of great significance for improving road accessibility and driving safety in snow and ice weather.
In order to ensure the safety of road traffic and transportation capacity in winter snow and ice weather, as well as the rapid cleaning of snow and ice road, many researchers have studied active snow melting and deicing technology (; ). blended flexible graphite-PET flakes in cement concrete pavement surface material to realize the active snow melting function of the pavement by electro-thermal conversion. The results showed that the system can effectively realize an active snow melting function. mixed phase-change materials in asphalt mixture to prepare phase-change asphalt mixture. The results showed that phase-change asphalt mixture can delay pavement heating and cooling. prepared highly elastic/salt-accumulating asphalt mixtures by combining highly elastic self-stressing materials and salts. adsorbed acetate on Al2O3 carrier to prepare anti-icing materials for roads. incorporated ice-melting agents containing chloride salts into asphalt slurry to prepare salt-stored asphalt mixtures and tested them for their ice- and snow-melting inhibition. The results showed that salt-accumulated asphalt pavement mixed with chloride salt ice-melting agent has good deicing and snow-melting performance.
However, current active snow melting and de-icing technologies for roads have many shortcomings, such as difficulties in resolving the durability of elastic materials in elastic paving technology and the complexity of the construction process of energy-converting pavements (). Therefore, spreading snowmelt is still the main way of alleviating the current problem of road icing and snow accumulation (). The use of road snow melting agent has problems such as the destruction of the natural environment around the road. In order to reduce the corrosion of snow melting agent to road infrastructure and pollution to the surrounding environment. quantitatively evaluated the impact of road snow melting agent on the ecological environment around the road under extreme rain and snow conditions. The results showed that the use of road snow melting agent caused serious damage to the road’s natural environment, and the use of snow melting salt in some sections led to a large amount of plant death. used different concentrations of common road snowmelt salt (NaCl) to hydroponically cultivate plant seedlings. The results showed that different concentrations of NaCl solution affect the survival rate and normal growth of plant seedlings. In summary, while chloride-based deicers remain the primary method for urban road snow and ice management due to their cost-effectiveness, recent studies have increasingly highlighted their irreversible nature of their ecological damage. The melting efficiency of chloride salts exhibits profound temperature sensitivity under extreme cold (), and their residues can trigger the release of heavy metals through soil ion exchange, significantly elevating the risk of groundwater contamination (). In contrast, organic salts such as potassium acetate (KAc) significantly mitigate metallic corrosion and reduce phytotoxicity. However, their application at high concentrations may still lead to an increase in biochemical oxygen demand, subsequently impacting dissolved oxygen levels within aquatic ecosystems.
Due to the impact of snow melting agents on the surrounding environment, many researchers have developed new road snow melting agents to solve these problems. prepared a slow-release salt-storage snow melting agent (SSSA) by ultraviolet light grafting and carried out an ice melting performance test. The results show that SSSA not only has good ice melting ability but also reduces the impact on the surrounding environment of the road due to its slow release of salt. used sodium acetate, calcium acetate, and potassium acetate to prepare snow melting agent and determined its optimal ratio. The results show that this snow melting agent has good ice melting performance and sustained release performance. Robert and colleagues () prepared a low corrosive snowmelt by adding carbohydrates and phosphates to chloride salt. Japanese researchers () improved the calcium chloride series of snowmelt, the main components of which are calcium chloride, magnesium sulfate, magnesium chloride, phosphate, and soluble potassium, and produced a product in the form of green granules of 1–5 mm. In summary, traditional road snowmelt is mainly chlorine salt, which has a strongly corrosive effect on road infrastructure and can have a significant impact on the normal growth of plants (; ). Therefore, it is particularly important to develop a low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent.
In this study, potassium acetate, sodium acetate, and ammonium acetate were selected as raw materials, and Design-Expert 11 software was used for simple center-of-gravity design to try to develop a low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent. Ice melting performance, environmental protection characteristics, and real world application results were evaluated. Two commonly used road snow melting agents (their main components are NaCl and CaCl2) were compared with low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agents. The low-carbon, environmentally friendly snow melting agent was incorporated into the asphalt mixture to prepare a low-carbon, environmentally friendly anti-icing asphalt mixture, and its anti-icing performance was evaluated.
2 Raw materials and testing methods
2.1 Raw materials
2.1.1 Asphalt
In this article, SK90# asphalt provided by Gansu Road and Bridge Group was used to test the basic indexes according to the requirements of the Technical Specification for Highway Asphalt Pavement Construction (). All the indexes met the requirements of the specification; the main technical indexes are shown in Table 1.
TABLE 1
| Property | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Penetration (25 °C, 100 g, 5 s) (0.1 mm) | 92.2 | |
| Softening point (°C) | 46.2 | |
| Ductility (10 °C) (cm) | 9.0 | |
| Ductility (15 °C) (cm) | >100 | |
| After rolling thin film oven test (RTFOT) (163 °C, 75 min) | Quality change (%) | 0.07 |
| Residual penetration ratio (25 °C) (%) | 70 | |
| Residual ductility (10 °C) (cm) | 9.0 | |
SK90# asphalt technical indicators.
2.1.2 Aggregate
The aggregate lithology used in this study is limestone. According to its particle size, the aggregate is divided into four grades: 1# (10–15 mm), 2# (5–10 mm), 3# (3–5 mm), and 4# (0–3 mm). The basic indexes of the aggregate were tested according to the requirements of Testing Procedures for Aggregates in Highway Engineering (). All the indexes met the requirements of the specification; the main technical indexes are shown in Table 2.
TABLE 2
| Property | Value | |
|---|---|---|
| Apparent specific gravity (g/cm3) | 10–15 mm | 2.792 |
| 5–10 mm | 2.785 | |
| 3–5 mm | 2.776 | |
| 0–3 mm | 2.763 | |
| Crushing value (%) | 15.8 | |
| Los Angeles abrasion value (%) | 14.7 | |
| Flat and elongated particles content (%) | Particle size > 9.5 mm | 8.6 |
| Particle size < 9.5 mm | 10.4 | |
| Water absorption (%) | 1.2 | |
| Asphalt adhesion | 5 | |
| Polishing value | 52 | |
Aggregate technical indicators.
2.1.3 Mineral powder
The mineral powder used in this study was made of limestone. The basic indexes of the mineral powder were tested according to the requirements of Testing Procedures for Aggregates in Highway Engineering (). All the indexes met the requirements of the specification; the main technical indexes are shown in Table 3. Overall, the fundamental properties presented in Tables 1–3 strictly met the quality requirements of China’s Technical Specification for Highway Asphalt Pavement Construction (), establishing a reliable material baseline to ensure that the structural integrity and mechanical performance of the resulting asphalt mixture were not compromised prior to the addition of deicers.
TABLE 3
| Property | Value |
|---|---|
| Apparent specific gravity (g/cm3) | 2.750 |
| Plasticity index | 3 |
| Hydrophilicity coefficient | 0.689 |
| <0.075 mm content (%) | 97.17 |
Mineral powder technical indicators.
2.1.4 Low-carbon salt materials
A review of a large amount of the subject literature summarized the solution of low freezing point and the ability to melt snow and ice chemical substances, taking into account the cost of materials and the abundance of resources (). This study adopted analytically pure potassium acetate, sodium acetate, and ammonium acetate as the main components of the snow melting agent. The source of the raw materials and specifications is shown in Table 4.
TABLE 4
| Raw material name | Norm | Freezing point (°C) | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| NaCl | Analytical purity | −16 | Tianjin Best Chemical Co. |
| CaCl2 | Analytical purity | −16 | Tianjin Best Chemical Co. |
| CH3COOK | Analytical purity | −13 | Tianjin Best Chemical Co. |
| CH3COONa | Analytical purity | −12 | Tianjin Best Chemical Co. |
| CH3COONH4 | Analytical purity | −14 | Tianjin Best Chemical Co. |
Salt material sources and specifications.
2.2 Sample preparation
Anti-icing asphalt mixture is usually used in the upper layer of asphalt pavement; most of the upper layer of asphalt pavement in China adopts a dense gradation structure. The gradation type of anti-condensation ice asphalt mixture selected for this study was AC-13 (Figure 1).
FIGURE 1
The optimum asphalt content used in this study was 5.2%. In this experiment, the anti-freezing ice asphalt mixture was prepared by internal mixing (self-made snow melting agent replaced mineral powder at 25%, 50%, and 75%) and external mixing (self-made snow melting agent was mixed at 1.5%, 3.5%, and 5.5% of the total mass of the mixture).
2.3 Testing methods
2.3.1 Ice melting ability test
There are many methods for evaluating the snow melting and ice melting ability of snow melting agent, and a unified evaluation method has not yet been adopted. Combined with the two standards issued by China (
;
), this study, in the spirit of intuitively and quantitatively reflecting the snow melting and ice melting ability of snow melting agent, tested the ice melting ability of snow melting agent with the ice melting amount as a parameter. Specific test steps are as follows.
Pour 100 mL of pure water into an aluminum petri dish (diameter 100 mm, height 55 mm), place it in a refrigerator at −10 °C for freezing, and then prepare it for use after 12 h.
After the pure water in the petri dish has completely frozen, weigh the total mass of the petri dish and the ice samples, recorded as m1, and prepare snowmelt solutions with a mass fraction of 20%. Use a measuring cylinder to measure 25 mL poured into a 100 mL porcelain crucible.
Place the prepared snow melting agent solutions and ice samples in the refrigerator at −10 °C for approximately 30 min. Afterward, the snow melting agent solution was quickly poured into the culture dish containing the ice sample to reduce them to the same temperature, and the snow-melting agent solution reacted with the ice surface for 30 min.
Remove the culture dish from the refrigerator and quickly remove the ice. The total weight of the petri dish and the remaining ice sample is weighed and recorded as m2, then the amount of ice melted by the snowmelt solution is m = m1 − m2.
2.3.2 Environmental protection test
2.3.2.1 Corrosion test of snow melting agent
According to the rotary hanging method proposed in Non-chlorine Organic Snowmelt for Road Use (JT/T 973-2015) to determine the corrosion rate of snowmelt on carbon steel, the instrument used was a RCC-III rotary hanging corrosion tester (Figure 2). The standard corrosion specimen was 20#I carbon steel with a density of 7.82 g/cm3, with three specimens used as the basis of a set of parallel tests. According to in a study of corrosion by snowmelt on metal materials, snowmelt has a greater corrosiveness at smaller concentrations. Thus, homemade spray-type snowmelt solutions with mass fractions of 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% and sodium chloride and calcium chloride solutions were prepared to test the corrosiveness of carbon steel.
FIGURE 2
The specific test steps were as follows.
Scrub off the antirust grease on the specimen with degreasing cotton wool, put it in a drier for more than 4 h, and weigh the mass m1.
Prepare 2000 mL homemade snow-melting agent solution with different mass fractions of sodium chloride and calcium chloride solution, measure 1,400 mL into a 2000 mL beaker, and immerse it in a constant-temperature water tank of RCC-III rotating pendant corrosion tester.
Hang the weighed specimens one by one on the hanging bracket, start the cantilever so that the hanging piece is fully immersed in the solution, start the rotating system so that the hanging piece is rotated at the specified speed (specimen line speed: 0.35 m/s ± 0.01 m/s), and start the clock.
Rotate the hanging piece for 48 h, stop the rotation, remove the hanging piece, and use 15% hydrochloric acid solution to clean the specimen surface rust. Clean the test piece’s surface rust, place it in a dryer for 4 h, and weigh the mass m2 so that the loss of mass m = m1 − m2. The solution will gradually decrease during the rotation of the specimen. In order to ensure that the specimen is completely immersed in the solution during the test period, the same solution needs to be added at regular intervals (approximately 12 h). The mass loss caused by different solutions on carbon steel was obtained according to the above test method, and the corrosion rate in mm/a was calculated using Equation 1.
where
is the mass loss of the specimen (g),
is the average mass loss of the specimen in the pickling blank test (g),
is the surface area of the specimen (cm
2),
is the density of the specimen (g/cm
3), and
is the test time (h).
2.3.2.2 Seed germination rate test
Considering the safety and environmental friendliness of snowmelt in the application process, many studies have evaluated the environmental friendliness of snowmelt by testing its effect on plant seeds. In this study, according to the seed germination test proposed by the SHAP-H-332 guidelines (), the snow melting agent solutions with mass fractions of 0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5%, and 2.0% were prepared to deal with the germination guarantee of the soybean germination rate above 95%. The radicle elongation length was measured to indirectly evaluate the environmental friendliness of the snow melting agent. In addition, the same concentration of sodium chloride, calcium chloride, and homemade snowmelt solutions should be prepareed for comparison. The seed germination test is a standard metric used to evaluate the terrestrial phytotoxicity of deicers, specifically reflecting the immediate impact of roadside soil runoff on local vegetation.
The specific experimental steps are as follows.
Select the full-grain soybeans placed in the mass fraction of 5% H2O2 solution for sterilization for 5 min and then clean them with distilled water to spare.
Put a piece of filter paper in a petri dish with a diameter of 100 mm, spread a layer of skimmed cotton on it, and place the prepared soybean radicle downward evenly on the skimmed cotton, placing each petri dish with ten soybeans.
Place the prepared snowmelt solution in a petri dish and then clean it with distilled water.
Measure 5 mL of the prepared snowmelt solution and gently pour it into the petri dish, trying to infiltrate the embryonic roots of each soybean in the solution, and then place it in room temperature for 5 days.
Observe the germination of soybeans, count the germinationrate, and measure the length of the embryonic rootelongation, as shown in Figures 2–5. To keep the soybeanseeds moist at all times during the incubation period, asolution of the same concentration of snowmelt can be addedat regular intervals.
FIGURE 3
FIGURE 4
FIGURE 5
2.3.3 Anti-icing performance test
2.3.3.1 Conductivity test
In this study, the change of the liquid conductivity value of different Marshall specimens immersed in water over time was tested by a DDS-11A digital conductivity meter. Firstly, different Marshall specimens were placed in a glass container filled with pure water, and the conductivity of the specimens was measured using the DDS-11A. Then, the conductivity of the solution was tested every 60 min for 600 min using the DDS-11A. Considering the influence of temperature on the conductivity, the temperature compensator of the conductivity meter was adjusted so that the instrument always indicated the conductivity of the solution at 25 °C.
2.3.3.2 Ice layer interface adhesion test
In this study, a self-made tool was used to test adhesion between the anticoagulant ice asphalt mixture and the ice sponge, which indirectly reflects the adhesion between the ice and the anticoagulant ice pavement. The tool used two nylon string joints 40 cm long to form a ring. The cross intersected at the bottom of a sponge with a diameter of 100 mm and a thickness of 30 mm, which was then placed on the top of the Marshall specimen together with the sponge. All three were immersed in water for 5 min so that the surface of the Marshall specimen was wet, and the sponge fully absorbed water to reach saturation; it was then placed in a refrigerator at −10 °C for 5 h. After the water in the whole sponge was frozen into ice, the specimen was taken out and placed horizontally. The tension rod on one side of the pointer push–pull meter (model: NK-100) was used to hook the cross-intersecting annular rope vertically upward until the ice sponge and the Marshall specimen were pulled apart. The value of the tension meter was recorded, measuring the cohesion of the ice sponge and the Marshall specimen of the anticoagulant ice asphalt mixture.
2.3.4 Simplex-centroid experimental design
This study relates to the mixing ratio problem. Considering the characteristics of its ratio, the simplex center-of-gravity design was chosen to establish the regression equation between the test index and each component in the mixing system. The simplex center-of-gravity design was used to arrange the test points on the center of gravity of the simplex (). This study was a three-component simplex center-of-gravity design. Taking a square triangle as an example, its center of gravity is 7 (Figure 6), and then all the test points include three single-component points (1, 0, 0), (0, 1, 0), (0, 0, 1), three two-component equal test points (1/2, 1/2, 0), (0. 1/2, 1/2), (1/2, 0, 1/2), and one test point with three equal components (1/3, 1/3, 1/3), which can be represented by the three-component simplex center-of-gravity design Table 7 as follows.
FIGURE 6
The regression equation (Equation 2) between the three-component simplex center of gravity design specification variable zj and the test index y is:
The formulas (Equation 3) for the coefficients in the regression equation are as follows:
Finally, based on the resulting polynomial regression equation of the amount of ice melt relative to the percentage of raw material content, Design-Expert 11 software was used to find the ratios of the components for the maximum amount of ice melt.
2.4 Statistical analysis
All experiments in this study were conducted in triplicate (n = 3) to ensure reproducibility. The experimental results are expressed as the mean ± standard deviation (SD), and error bars are included in the corresponding figures to represent data variability.
3 Results and discussion
3.1 Composition design of snow melting agent
According to the three-component simplex center-of-gravity design method for determining low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent formulations, with the amount of ice melting of different formulations of sodium acetate, potassium acetate, and ammonium acetate as an indicator, the experimental design as well as the results are presented in Table 6.
TABLE 5
| Serial number | z1 | z2 | z3 | Ice melt y |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | y1 |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | y2 |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | y3 |
| 4 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | y12 |
| 5 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | y13 |
| 6 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | y23 |
| 7 | 1/3 | 1/3 | 1/3 | y123 |
Three-component simplex center-of-gravity design table.
TABLE 6
| Serial number | x1 | x2 | x3 | Ice melting capacity |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Potassium acetate | Sodium acetate | Ammonium acetate | ||
| 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 4.4 |
| 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 |
| 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4.7 |
| 4 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 0 | 4.2 |
| 5 | 1/2 | 0 | 1/2 | 4.4 |
| 6 | 0 | 1/2 | 1/2 | 4.5 |
| 7 | 1/3 | 1/3 | 1/3 | 4.7 |
Simplex center-of-gravity design test program and results.
The regression equation between its variable xj and indicator y is
The formulas for the coefficients in the regression equation are as follows:
The experimental results in Table 1 were analyzed by applying Design-Expert 11 software fitted with the regression equation of Equation 6:
Modeled according to the established regression equation, the contour model of ice melt is shown in Figure 6. As shown in Figure 7, the higher the proportion of ammonium acetate, the higher the ice melting capacity of snowmelt, while the high content of potassium acetate and sodium acetate results in a low ice melting capacity of snowmelt. In other words, potassium acetate has a large influence on the amount of snowmelt.
FIGURE 7
Figure 8 depicts the effect of the three components on the amount of snowmelt. The contours are elliptical, indicating a strong interaction between the factors. The response surface shows an arch shape, and the amount of ice melt has an extreme value. When the proportions of potassium acetate, sodium acetate, and ammonium acetate were 23.9%, 27.4%, and 48.7%, respectively, the amount of snowmelt was large at 4.734 g. According to the optimized ratio of 23.9% potassium acetate, 27.4% sodium acetate, and 48.7% ammonium acetate compounded snowmelt and the preparation of the mass fraction of 20% of the snowmelt solution, testing its melting ice in the environment at −10 °C, its value is 4.7 g. Verification of the measured value is not much different from the theoretical value and ultimately determined that the optimal ratio of the low carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent is potassium acetate: sodium acetate: ammonium acetate = 23.9%: 27.4%: 48.7%, which is suitable for preparation into different concentrations of snowmelt solution sprayed on roads to remove road snow and ice. According to this optimal ratio, a low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent was prepared.
FIGURE 8
On the basis of the completion of the formula design of the low carbon and environmental friendly road snow melting agent, the preparation process for this melting agent is as follows. First, use three types of acetic acid for drying. When their quality is unchanged, it is processed into powder. Then, the three types of acetic acid are weighed separately in accordance with the formula and are put into the stirrer for full mixing. Finally, the mixture of the three acetates is dried and processed into powder form, sealed, and stored. Before actual application, it can be prepared at the required concentration.
3.2 Capability of the snow melting agent
3.2.1 Ice melting ability
In this study, the effects of different concentrations (10%, 20%, and 30%) and different temperatures (−5 °C, −10 °C, and −15 °C) on the ice-melting capacity of low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent solutions were investigated. The test results are shown in Figure 9: when this agent’s concentration is the same, the ice melting capacity decreases with decreased temperature; when the test temperature is the same, the higher the concentration of homemade snowmelt, the larger the ice melting capacity. However, when the temperature continues to fall, the increasing concentration of homemade snowmelt solution has an increasingly smaller effect on ice melting performance.
FIGURE 9
As shown in Figure 10, the ice melting capacity of homemade snowmelt can reach more than 90% of the ice melting capacity of traditional road snowmelt, with the three ice melting capacities in the following order: sodium chloride > calcium chloride > low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent.
FIGURE 10
3.2.2 Environmental protection characteristics of snow melting agent
3.2.2.1 Corrosion effect on carbon steel
In order to investigate the corrosive effect of low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent on carbon steel, agent solutions with mass fractions of 2.5%, 5%, 7.5%, and 10% and two traditional road snowmelt solutions were prepared. The test results are shown in Figures 11–14, which show that after the corrosion of the snowmelt solution, the surface of carbon steel changes, generating a layer of light yellow or reddish-brown material. For the carbon steel corroded by mass fractions of 2.5%, 7.5%, and 10% sodium chloride solution, the surface was covered by light yellow material, but when the mass fraction is 5%, the carbon steel surface generated a thicker layer of reddish-brown material. For carbon steel after corrosion with different concentrations of calcium chloride solution, the surface of carbon steel was covered with increasingly darker colors as the concentration increased. However, for carbon steel after corrosion with different concentrations of homemade snowmelt solution, its surface only changed slightly in color and did not form a buildup of the cover.
FIGURE 11
FIGURE 12
FIGURE 13
FIGURE 14
As shown in Figure 15, both the type and concentration of the snowmelt solution affect the corrosion rate of carbon steel. Of these, the three snowmelt corrosion rates of carbon steel are in the following order: sodium chloride > calcium chloride > low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent, and when the agent solution concentration increased, the corrosion rate of carbon steel did not increase but rather decreased, indicating that when the concentration of the melting agent is greater, it inhibits the corrosion of carbon steel.
FIGURE 15
3.2.2.2 Seed germination rate
In this study, the injurious effects of different concentrations (0.5%, 1.0%, 1.5% and 2.0%) of snowmelt solutions on plants were investigated. As shown in Figure 16 and Table 7, when the concentration of snowmelt solution increased, the germination rate of soybean treated with different snowmelt solutions decreased, among which only the soybean treated with calcium chloride solution (mass fraction of 2.0%) germinated, with an average shoot length of 9.6 mm. The shoot lengths of soybean seeds treated with the three types of snowmelt solutions decreased with an increase in the concentration of snowmelt solution, the average shoot lengths for the three types of snowmelt solutions decreased, and the overall average shoot lengths of the three types of soybean seeds treated with different concentrations of snowmelt solution decreased. Overall, the average sprout length was in the following order: low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent > calcium chloride > sodium chloride.
FIGURE 16
TABLE 7
| Mass fraction of solution (%) | Average shoot length (mm) | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Distilled water | NaCl | CaCl2 | Snowmelt | |
| 0.5 | 69 | 21.7 | 38.4 | 49.3 |
| 1.0 | 69 | 15.3 | 22.9 | 28.8 |
| 1.5 | 69 | 12.6 | 13.0 | 17.4 |
| 2.0 | 69 | 0 | 9.6 | 0 |
Mean shoot length of soybean seeds after different solution treatments.
In order to further recognize that different concentrations and types of snowmelt all affect the cultivation of soybean seeds, a linear regression was performed on the average shoot length of soybean seeds with different concentrations of snowmelt solutions and soybean seeds. It can be seen from Figure 17 that the average germination length of soybean seeds treated with snowmelt solution has a strong correlation with the mass fraction of snowmelt solution—with the increase of the concentration of snowmelt solution, the average germination length of soybean seeds becomes shorter. Although four concentration gradients provide a limited number of points for this linear regression, they sufficiently establish the immediate preliminary dose-response trend for comparative purposes in this study. Moreover, when the concentration of the snowmelt solution was low, the shoot length of soybean seeds cultivated by the low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent was greatest. However, the shoot length of soybean seeds cultivated by this melting agent decreased rapidly with the increase of the mass fraction of the snowmelt solution, and the decrease rate was greater than that of sodium chloride and calcium chloride solutions. In general, the effect of low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent on plant seeds is still less than that of the two traditional road snowmelts, so the former is more environmentally friendly than the latter. It is important to note that while the acetate-based mixture demonstrates superior terrestrial environmental compatibility compared to chlorides, the inclusion of ammonium acetate introduces a risk to aquatic ecosystems. Meltwater runoff containing high concentrations of nitrogen compounds could potentially contribute to eutrophication and algal blooms in receiving lakes and streams. The current evaluation primarily focuses on soil and plant toxicity; therefore, the long-term impact on the biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) and nutrient load in adjacent aquatic environments remains a critical area for future comprehensive environmental assessments.
FIGURE 17
3.2.3 Application of snow melting agent
In this study, the low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent was used to remove snow from the first snowfall of winter (the temperature was −6 °C and the snow thickness was 5 mm). We first configured three concentrations (10%, 20%, and 30%) of our melting agent and used spraying devices on the three more uniform and smooth snow road spraying snow melting test; we then observed and recorded the actual snow melt, with the test results shown in Figure 18.
FIGURE 18
As can be seen from Figure 18, as the concentration of the low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent solution increased, snow removal efficiency increased. Due to the convenient demand in the actual snow melting and deicing operation, and because the mass fraction of this melting agent reached 30%, the freezing point was approximately −25 °C, which also meets the climatic requirements of ice and snow weather in most areas. Therefore, it is recommended this solution be used with a mass fraction of 30% for snow removal operations. Although the unit price of the proposed acetate-based mixture is higher than that of conventional NaCl or CaCl2, its application significantly reduces the indirect costs associated with carbon steel corrosion and environmental degradation. Future large-scale implementations can further reduce production costs through bulk chemical synthesis and industrial optimization.
3.3 Anti-freezing ice asphalt mixture performance
3.3.1 Conductivity
As shown in Figure 19, the conductivity value of the liquid of the anti-condensation ice asphalt mixture increased with the increase in soaking time, and the conductivity value also increased when the proportion of the snow melting agent increased. At 1 hr soaking time, the conductivity value increased most obviously. It can also be seen from Figure 7 that when the anticoagulant ice asphalt mixture was prepared by external mixing, the increase of the conductivity value of the soaked liquid was significantly greater than that of the internal mixing method.
FIGURE 19
3.3.2 Ice layer interface adhesion
As shown in Figure 20, the mixing method of self-made solid snow melting agent and the mixing ratio of different snow melting agents will affect the cohesion of anticoagulant ice asphalt mixture. When the mixing method of the self-made solid snow melting agent is the same, the bonding force of the anti-condensation ice asphalt mixture decreases with the increase of the proportion of the snow melting agent.
FIGURE 20
It can be observed from Table 8 that the decreased ratio of cohesive force of anticoagulant ice asphalt mixture prepared by internal mixing method is obviously smaller than that of anticoagulant ice asphalt mixture prepared by the external mixing method, making the anticoagulant ice performance of anticoagulant ice asphalt mixture prepared by external mixing better.
TABLE 8
| Adding mode | Blending ratio (%) | Bonding power (N) | Decline proportion (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internal doping method | 0 | 39.25 | - |
| 25 | 14.50 | 63.1 | |
| 50 | 14.25 | 63.7 | |
| 75 | 8.75 | 77.7 | |
| External addition method | 0 | 39.25 | - |
| 1.5 | 9.75 | 75.2 | |
| 3.5 | 6.75 | 82.8 | |
| 5.5 | 3.75 | 90.4 |
Decreasing ratio of adhesion of different anti-freezing asphalt mixtures.
4 Conclusion
In this study, based on Design-Expert 11 software, simplex center-of-gravity design was implemented to try to develop a low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent. Its ice melting performance, environmental protection characteristics, and real-world application effects were evaluated. Two commonly used road snow melting agents (main components NaCl and CaCl
2) were compared with low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agents. The latter agent was incorporated into an asphalt mixture to prepare a low-carbon, environmentally friendly anti-icing asphalt mixture, and its anti-icing performance was evaluated.
As the concentration of the low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent solution increased, its corrosion rate of carbon steel had negative growth, indicating that a larger concentration of acetate-based spraying-type road snowmelt solution has an inhibitory effect on the corrosion of carbon steel.
The greater the concentration of low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent solution, the greater its effect on plant seeds. However, in general, the effect of this agent on plant seeds was less than that of the two traditional road snowmelt agents.
The ice melting capacity of the low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent decreased with a decrease in temperature and increased with an increase in concentration; it can reach more than 90% of the ice melting capacity of traditional road snowmelt.
Low-carbon, environmentally friendly anti-condensation ice asphalt mixture showed good anti-condensation ice performance, especially when prepared by external mixing, and showed more obvious anti-condensation ice performance.
The optimal formula of low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent is 23.9% potassium acetate, 27.4% sodium acetate, and 48.7% ammonium acetate. We recommended using a 30% mass fraction of low-carbon and environmentally friendly road snow melting agent solution for snow removal.
Statements
Data availability statement
The original contributions presented in the study are included in the article/supplementary material; further inquiries can be directed to the corresponding author.
Author contributions
JG: Writing – original draft, Data curation. WZ: Data curation, Writing – original draft, Conceptualization. TW: Data curation, Formal analysis, Writing – review and editing. SW: Data curation, Project administration, Writing – review and editing. BS: Formal analysis, Data curation, Writing – review and editing, Methodology. MY: Writing – review and editing, Methodology, Data curation. TY: Writing – review and editing, Conceptualization, Investigation. BL: Conceptualization, Writing – review and editing, Investigation.
Funding
The author(s) declared that financial support was received for this work and/or its publication. The authors gratefully acknowledge the financial supports by Gansu Provincial Innovation Group in Fundamental Research (25JRRA145), Science and Technology Project of Gansu Provincial Department of Transportation (2025-15).
Conflict of interest
Author TY was employed by the Postdoctoral Research Station of Ningxia Transportation Construction Co., Ltd.
The remaining author(s) declared that this work was conducted in the absence of any commercial or financial relationships that could be construed as a potential conflict of interest.
Generative AI statement
The author(s) declared that generative AI was not used in the creation of this manuscript.
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Summary
Keywords
anti-freezing ice asphalt mixture, environmental characteristics, low carbon, simplex centroid design, snowmelt agent
Citation
Guo J, Zhao W, Wu T, Wang S, Sun B, Yang M, Yao T and Li B (2026) A simplex-centroid designed eco-friendly acetate-based deicer: development, environmental assessment, and evaluation of its anti-icing performance. Front. Mater. 13:1698212. doi: 10.3389/fmats.2026.1698212
Received
03 September 2025
Revised
26 March 2026
Accepted
13 April 2026
Published
10 July 2026
Volume
13 - 2026
Edited by
Antonios Kanellopoulos, University of Hertfordshire, United Kingdom
Updates
Copyright
© 2026 Guo, Zhao, Wu, Wang, Sun, Yang, Yao and Li.
This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) and the copyright owner(s) are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
*Correspondence: Wenjuan Zhao, lzqzqtx@163.com
Disclaimer
All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.