New insights into the effects of styrene-butadiene-styrene polymer modifier on the structure, properties, and performance of asphalt binder: The case of AP-5 asphalt and solvent deasphalting pitch

Abstract

This paper deals with the poorly understood effects of styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS) copolymer on the bitumen performance. It focuses on determining the impact of various concentrations (e.g., 0, 4, 8, and 12 wt. %) of SBS on the attributes of two types of asphalt namely AP-5 asphalt and solvent deasphalting (SDA) pitch. The unmodified and modified binders were investigated in terms of their chemical compositions, microstructures, thermo-analytical behaviors, and physical properties. The intricate chemical compositions were evaluated by elemental analysis and thin layer chromatography-ionization detection (TLC-FID). Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopies, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and X-ray diffraction (XRD) were utilized to examine the microstructures. Whereas, thermal characteristics were evaluated by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA/DTGA) and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC). The physical behaviors were monitored through the softening point, penetration, viscosity, and ductility tests. The findings showed that the blending of asphalt with different amounts of SBS resulted into different rheological behaviors. This was reflected from the difference in the SARA (i.e., saturates, aromatics, resins, and asphaltenes) compositions and colloidal instability indexes of the modified asphalts. SEM exhibited a continuous asphalt phase with distributed SBS particles, a continuous polymer phase with distributed asphalt globules, or two interconnected continuous phases. FT-IR, 1H 13C NMR, and XRD data revealed that the AP-5 asphalt and SDA pitch experienced a number of distinct structural changes. TGA/DSC studies determined the occurrence of diverse events during thermal treatment. It is concluded that the degree of SBS modification depends strongly on SARA composition and polymer content. If the polymers are molded at higher concentrations along with aromatics-rich SDA pitches, then the mixtures are found to be much more stable than those obtained with asphaltenes-rich AP-5 asphalts.