Laboratory evaluation on water-based and flexible epoxy/SiO2 nanocomposites to enhance anti-sliding effectiveness of pavement

Abstract

The anti-slip (AS) layer of the cement concrete pavement (CCP) can probability decrease traffic accidents and extend the service life of the road. Epoxy resin has excellent adhesion and mechanical strength, making it possible in this field. Herein, a flexible waterborne epoxy resin (WER) without a small molecule emulsifier was synthesized by bisphenol A epoxy resin, poly (propylene glycol) diglycidyl ether (PDE), diethylenetriamine (DETA). The mechanism of the group reaction was characterized by fourier transform infrared (FTIR), and dynamic scanning calorimetry (DSC) determined the heat of curing of WER. Then, the physical properties of WER were enhanced by the silane coupling agent modified nano-silica (SCA-NS) and the composite’s water absorption rate and mechanical propriety were evaluated. Finally, the pavement performance of the AS layer was prepared and tested as well as compared with the commercial waterborne epoxy resin (CWER) and emulsified asphalt (EA). The result shows EA has low durability and adhesion strength than epoxy resin. The small molecule emulsifier and low-flexible resistance of CWER decrease water stability and anti-sliding durability of the AS layer. Due to applied nanomaterial reinforced and without small molecule emulsifiers, the WER base AS layer shows extremely high adhesion strength, water stability, and skid-resistance durability at addition 3 wt% of SCA-NS, which have a great potential for CCP.