Ageing processes invesitigation of asphalt binders modified with polymer composites

The project deals with issues related to the application of modern polymer composites in road materials engineering in the aspect of asphalt binder aging. Aging processes of asphalt binders are one of the main causes of the loss of their primary physical and chemical properties, which leads to the deterioration of road pavements. In recent years, a trend related to the development of modern modifiers of asphalt binders that inhibit aging processes has been observed. Research reported in the literature indicates that the presence of specific functional groups in the chemical structure of organic compounds is responsible for their aging-inhibiting properties. On the other hand, the growing environmental awareness of both investors and road users makes it necessary to use ecological modifiers in road construction. Therefore, in the project, modern polymer composites used in the modification of asphalt binders were obtained on the basis of chitosan. This is a polymer of biological origin included in the group of polysaccharides formed by partial deacetylation of chitin. The indisputable advantages of its use are non-toxicity, biocompatibility and degradability. In order to obtain functional composites, grafted polymerization reactions were used, resulted in the attachment of three different ligands to the chitosan structure, i.e. polyaniline, 2-acrylamido-2-methylpropanesulfonic acid or methacrylamide. The resulting materials were characterized in terms of structure and chemical composition by FTIR, XPS and CHN. Subsequently, they were applied to the modification of 50/70 road asphalt. Within the framework of the scientific activity were performed studies the physicochemical properties of the obtained modified asphalt binders, i.e. penetration, softening point and dynamic viscosity. An important aspect of the planned research were also analysis of changes in these properties under the influence of aging processes. These changes were quantitatively characterized both by rheological aging indices, i.e. change in penetration, viscosity and softening temperature, as well as chemical aging indices, i.e. increase in the number of carboxyl and sulfoxide groups. The result of the implemented project was the preparation of polymer composites with aging-inhibiting properties of asphalt binders. The data deposited in the repository were compressed into 3 folders (K1, K2, K3) in *.zip format with files saved in *.csv, *.ods and *.pdf formats. The posted data concern the physicochemical, chemical and microstructural properties of asphalt binders modified with two-component polymer composites simulated and not simulated by short-term TFOT aging.