Effect of material composition on nano-adhesive characteristics of styrene-butadiene-styrene copolymer-modified bitumen using atomic force microscope technology

Abstract

To investigate the effect of the raw material composition on the nano-adhesive characteristics of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) copolymer-modified bitumen, force-distance curves were obtained to examine the nano-adhesive forces of SBS-modified bitumen samples prepared using different virgin bitumen types, SBS modifiers, an extraction oil, and a stabilizer using atomic force microscopy (AFM). The influence of the composition of the raw materials, such as the virgin bitumen, SBS modifier, extracting oil, and stabilizing agent contents, on the cohesive characteristics were discussed for SBS-modified bitumen. The results show that force-distance curves obtained using AFM can be used to gain insight into nano-adhesive forces of SBS-modified bitumen samples. The force-spectrum technique using AFM can be used to obtain the nano-adhesive forces of the SBS-modified bitumen samples. Neat bitumen has good compatibility with a SBS modifier, which is suitable for forming SBS-modified bitumen with an increased nano-adhesive force. The nano-adhesive force of the branched-shaped SBS-modified bitumen was larger than that of linear-shaped SBS-modified bitumen. The nano-adhesive force of SBS-modified bitumen increased as the SBS modifier and stabilizer contents increased. The nano-adhesive force of the SBS-modified bitumen decreased when the extraction oil content increased.