Abstract
The moisture damage in polymer modified asphalts has been studied for decades, yet the effects of chemical functional groups on moisture sensitivity are not known. In this study, a nanoscale experiment is conducted to measure these effects in terms of adhesive/cohesive forces using an atomic force microscopy (AFM). A base asphalt binder and two polymers such as styrene-butadiene (SB) and styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) modified asphalts are used to prepare an AFM sample on glass substrates. The AFM samples are conditioned under dry and wet conditions. In the AFM, these samples are probed by silicon nitrite ( Si3 N4 ) , carboxyl ( —COOH ) , methyl ( — CH3 ) , and hydroxyl ( —OH ) functionalized AFM tips and nanoscale pull-off or adhesion/cohesion forces between asphalt and tip molecules are measured. Based on the ratio of wet to dry adhesion/cohesion forces, it is shown that the polymer modification makes binders less susceptible to moisture damage. Among the four tips, the —COOH tip shows almost no differ...
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