Bitumen nanocomposites with improved performance

Kosma, Vasiliki; Hayrapetyan, Suren; Diamanti, Evmorfia; Dhawale, Ajay; Giannelis, Emmanuel P.

Bitumen nanocomposites with improved performance

Type

Article

Authors

Kosma, Vasiliki
Hayrapetyan, Suren
Diamanti, Evmorfia
Dhawale, Ajay
Giannelis, Emmanuel P.

KAUST Grant Number

KUS-C1-018-02

Online Publication Date

2017-11-29

Print Publication Date

2018-01

Date

2017-11-29

Abstract

Bitumen-clay nanocomposite binders with styrene-butadienestyrene triblock copolymer, SBS, and combinations of SBS and crumb rubber (CR) with different CR/SBS ratios have been synthesized and characterized. In addition to the binder, samples containing the binder and concrete sand (with a weight ratio 1:9) were prepared. The modified binders were studied in terms of filler dispersion, storage stability, mechanical performance and water susceptibility. We demonstrate that the samples containing nanoclays consistently outperform those based only on the polymer additives. We also find that nanocomposite samples based on a combination of SBS and CR are best, since in addition to other improvements they show excellent storage stability. Our work shows that substituting CR with SBS as a bitumen additive and combining it with inexpensive nanoclays leads to new materials with enhanced performance and improved stability for practical asphalt applications.

Citation

Kosma V, Hayrapetyan S, Diamanti E, Dhawale A, Giannelis EP (2018) Bitumen nanocomposites with improved performance. Construction and Building Materials 160: 30–38. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.11.024.

Acknowledgements

The authors gratefully acknowledge support from a grant from the Milstein Foundation. In addition, we acknowledge facilities support from the KAUST-Cornell Center of Energy and Sustainability (KAUST-CU) (Award No. KUS-C1-018-02 made by King Abdullah University of Science and Technology), Center for Nanomaterials Engineering & Technology shared research facilities at Cornell University and Cornell Center for Materials Research Shared Facilities which are supported through the NSF MRSEC program (DMR-1120296). We also acknowledge facilities support from Cornell University Biotechnology Resource Center (BRC) and we would like to thank Dr. Carol Bayles for illuminating discussions as regards Fluorescence Microscopy.