Tests conclude carbon black is the most suitable nanomaterial to create the DURABROADS bitumen
Initial plan for the consortium was to develop a more resilient and durable bitumen using graphite.
However, based on the results of the properties of the bitumen blends prepared with graphite, technical performance for the new modified-bitumen binders developed was not as satisfactory as expected. Only a slight improvement of the individual properties could be found, so this performance was not appealing to achieve a successful market deployment.
Engineers involved in this challenging task applied the contingency plan seeking an alternative solution. In this sense, properties of the carbon black bitumen blends were performing better in similar terms to conventional bitumen. In addition, adding a small amount of SBS polymer as supplement could compensate the elastic recovery turning into a bitumen with similar properties to those offered for polymer modified binders.
Carbon black is a material formed by pyrolytic carbon spheres that are typically attached or overlapping each other, forming groups of tens or even thousands of particles. It can be considered the CB as a raw material widely stablished in the market and highly valuated today, the annual production can be estimated in more than 8,100,000 tons.
Industrially it is mainly used for manufacturing tires (over 80% of the CB produced it is intended for this purpose), but the use of carbon black for the production of paints, inks for graphic printing and plastic is also getting more and more common.
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