Synthesis and Properties of Fumaric Copolymers as Potential Bitumen Modifiers

ABSTRACT

New copolymers of dioctyl fumarate (DOF) and styrene (S) were synthetized by radical polymerization and used to modify bitumen. The poly(dioctyl fumarate-co-styrene) copolymers, PFS, were characterized by ¹H-NMR and FTIR spectroscopies and size exclusion chromatography (SEC) in order to determine their monomer composition and weight average molecular weights, respectively. The polymer-bitumen blending conditions were optimized and the samples analyzed by different methodologies. Fluorescence microscopy, rotational viscosity and differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) were used to study the morphological changes of blends during their manufacturing and the rheological and thermal behavior, respectively. All modified bitumen (MB) exhibited higher viscosity than the based bitumen (BB) under studied conditions and this effect was more evident for the MB containing the higher molecular weight polymer. The addition of polymers to BB enhances the bitumen viscosity and thus increased the energy required for the flowing (activation energy calculated by Arrhenius equation). Thermal and morphological analysis showed that all MB exhibited good polymer- bitumen compatibility, which could be consider as a good starting point for a potential applications of this new material in road engineering.

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

GRAPHICAL ABSTRACT

KEYWORDS:

• Compatibility
• fumaric copolymer
• modified bitumen
• rheological properties

Acknowledgments

The authors acknowledge financial support from CONICET (PIP- D0047), ANPCyT (PICT-0913) and UNLP (11/X644).

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the Consejo Nacional de Investigaciones Científicas y Técnicas PIP- D0047Fondo para la Investigación Científica y Tecnológica PICT-0913Universidad Nacional de La Plata 11/X644.