High-Temperature Performance Enhancement of Bitumen by Waste PET-Derived Polyurethane

Abstract

Bitumen performance enhancement through modification by reactive polymers gained significant attention in the road construction industry. Polymeric bitumen additives, such as polyurethane, improve bitumen properties at low and high in-service temperatures. This research aimed to increase the polymer content (polyurethane) from 3% to 5%wt of bitumen by introducing cross-linking agent, sulfur. Synthesis of polyurethane was via in situ polymerization of bis (2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalamide (BHETA) in the presence of bitumen with sulfur as a cross-linking agent. BHETA was produced from polyethylene terephthalate (PET) by an aminolysis reaction. Penetration and softening point, frequency sweep test, performance grade (PG) and multiple stress creep recovery (MSCR) were evaluated to compare base and modified bitumen. Results show that the penetration and softening point of modified binders were reduced and increased, respectively, the frequency sweep test indicated improvement in viscoelastic properties of modified bitumen, PG of base bitumen was enhanced by two grades, i.e., from 58°C to 70°C, and the nonrecoverable creep compliance was increased by 81.82% at polymer content of 4% and sulfur content of 0.2%. The FTIR spectra of modified bitumen confirmed the formation of urethane linkages. Therefore, aminolysis of waste PET and in-situ polymerization to produce polyurethane can be applied to improve the performance of bitumen at high temperatures.