Construction and Building Materials 62 (2014) 1–7

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Influence of SBS and asphalt on SBS dispersion and the performance

of modified asphalt
Fuqiang Dong, Wenzhe Zhao, Yuzhen Zhang ⇑, Jianming Wei, Weiyu Fan, Yanjie Yu, Zhe Wang
State Key Laboratory of Heavy Oil Processing, China University of Petroleum, Qingdao, Shandong Province 266580, PR China

h i g h l i g h t s

 High aromatics and low asphaltenes could improve dispersion of SBS.

 Particle size distribution curve S/B ratio at 30/70 was narrower than others.
 As SBS contents increasing the particle size distribution curve became wide.
 With the range of SBS distribution becoming narrow the viscosity was increased.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Styrene–butadiene–styrene (SBS) modified asphalt (PMA) was prepared by high shear method. Four
Received 10 December 2013 asphalts with different components and four types of SBS copolymers with different S/B ratio and types
Received in revised form 9 March 2014 were selected in this study. The influences of the asphalt components and SBS structure as well as SBS
Accepted 11 March 2014
contents on the particle size distribution of SBS and properties of the SBS modified asphalt were
Available online 10 April 2014
investigated. Fluorescence microscope and the Image-Pro Plus program were chosen to characterize
the microstructure and count the particle size distribution of SBS. The results show that the asphalt
Keywords:
components, SBS structure and content had significant impacts on the particle size distribution of SBS
Asphalt components
SBS structure
polymer in asphalt and the performance of SBS modified asphalt. The high aromatics content and the
Particle size distribution of SBS low asphaltenes content could improve the dispersion of SBS in asphalt. When the S/B ratio is 30/70,
Image-Pro Plus program the particle size distribution curve was the narrowest and the performance of modified asphalt was
SBS modified asphalt improved. With the content of SBS increasing, the particle size distribution curve became wide and the
softening point of the modified asphalt was increased, while the penetration and the ductility were
decreased. The viscosity at 135 °C of modified asphalt was increased with the range of the particle size
distribution curves becoming narrow.
Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction ene–styrene (SBS) block copolymers, styrene–butadiene rubber

Asphalt is a residue of crude oil refining, described as a mixture
of various chemical components. Despite its complicated composi-
tion, asphalt is a well-known natural material and widely used in
road pavement as the binder of aggregates [1,2]. Unfortunately,
further applications of asphalt are restricted by some disadvan-
tages, such as high-temperature rutting and low temperature
cracking [3]. In order to improve the quality of asphalt, it is
generally modified by various polymers such as styrene–butadi-
⇑ Corresponding author. Tel.: +86 13801017308.
E-mail addresses: dfq0107@126.com (F. Dong), zwz910326@163.com (W. Zhao),
zhangyuzhen1959@163.com (Y. Zhang), dream_room@126.com (J. Wei), fan-
wyu@upc.edu.cn (W. Fan), yuyanjie1006@126.com (Y. Yu), wangzheclm@163.com
(Z. Wang).
(SBR), and ethylene–vinyl acetate (EVA) [4,5]. The most commonly
used polymers belong to the group of thermoplastic elastomeric
block copolymers and SBS especially seems to be a useful modifier
of conventional asphalt [6–8]. It is known that SBS block copoly-
mer can improve both the low and high temperature properties
of asphalt [9]. Recently, some research [10–13] focused on the con-
ventional properties, aging properties, rheological properties,
mechanism and microstructure of SBS modified asphalt as well
as the manufacturing process.
However, there are some problems for SBS modified asphalt,
such as difficulty for quality control and lack of storage stability,
which are probably attributed to the different microstructure of
SBS modified asphalt. Some published works [14–19] have studied
the relationship between morphology and performance of SBS
modified asphalt. The fluorescent microscope, image collecting

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2014.03.018
0950-0618/Ó 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
2 F. Dong et al. / Construction and Building Materials 62 (2014) 1–7

system, and professional software were used to qualitatively Table 2

analyze the microstructure of SBS modified asphalt, in which the Properties of SBS copolymers.

analysis method of microstructure was established. However, the Items Unit Copolymer
microstructure was not analyzed quantitatively and the factors of 1201 1301 1401 4303
influencing on the SBS modified asphalt morphology have not been
Structure Linear Linear Linear Radial
investigated systematically. It is known that SBS is a block copoly- Styrene–butadiene ratio 20/80 30/70 40/60 30/70
mer of styrene and butadiene, which has different structures, block Average molecular weight 4
10 g/cm 3
10 10 9.5 28
S/B ratio, and molecule weights. Furthermore, asphalts are extre- Shore hardness A P58 70 92 82
mely complex and variable materials, the properties of which de- Tensile strength MPa 8 25 36.5 14
300% Tensile stress MPa 1.4 2.55 3.86 2.0
pend not only on the crude oil used to obtain the asphalt, but
Breaking elongation % 700 915 755 650
also on the refining process itself. Therefore, it is necessary to Volatile matter % 0.7 0.7 0.7 0.7
investigate the influence of asphalt chemical composition and Ash content % 0.2 0.2 0.2 0.2
SBS structure on the morphology and properties of SBS modified Melt flow rate g/min 0.1–5 0.1–5 0.5–5 0–1.0
asphalt for understanding on the interaction of polymers with dif-
ferent asphalts better. 2.3.2. Rotational viscosity test
The objective of the current study was to investigate the effects The modified asphalt needs remain sufficiently fluid or workable at high
temperatures, so that the energy required during the plant mixing, laydown, and
of asphalt source/grade, the SBS content and structure on the
compaction phases is minimized. The rotational viscometer measures the viscosity
particle size distribution of SBS and properties of the SBS polymer of modified asphalt to evaluate the workability during mixing and compaction pro-
modified asphalt using conventional methods and fluorescence cesses. In this study, the Brookfield viscometer equipped with a thermo container
microscope observation. for control of sample temperature was used to measure the dynamic viscosity of
the prepared samples at 135 °C.

2. Experiment and methods 2.3.3. Chemical composition

2.1. Materials
Four asphalts (penetration grade AH-70 and AH-90) were used to prepare a
number of laboratory modified asphalt samples. They were coded as ZH AH-90,
QHD AH-90, QHD AH-70, and LH AH-70, respectively. The properties of the four
base asphalts are presented in Table 1.
Four kinds of SBS were selected in this study, which were denoted as 1201,
1301, 1401, and 4303. The 1201, 1301 and 1401 are linear SBS polymers containing
20%, 30%, and 40% styrene, respectively. And the average molecular weights are all
about 100,000 g/mol. 4303 is a radial SBS polymer with 30% styrene and the average
molecular weight is about 280,000 g/mol. Table 2 lists the basic properties of the
four SBS copolymers.
2.2. Preparation of SBS polymer modified asphalt samples
SBS polymer modified asphalt samples (SPMA) were prepared with four base
asphalts and four SBS polymers with different loading levels (1%, 3%, and 5% by
weight of modified asphalt) by mechanical mixing using a high shear mixer.
According to the previous study in our group [24], the following preparation proce-
dure of SBS modified asphalt was followed. The asphalt was heated to become a
fluid in an iron container, then upon reaching about 170 °C, a certain amount of
SBS was added into asphalt, and after reaching 175 °C, the mixture was blended
at 3000 r/min for 60 min. After completion, the SPMA was removed from the iron
container and stored for further tests.
2.3. Test methods
In order to know the relationship between the asphalt components and the per-
formance of the modified asphalt, the chemical composition (saturates, aromatics,
resins, and asphaltenes) of asphalt was determined according to SH/T0509-2010.
2.3.4. Morphology of the SPMA
In order to describe the microstructure interacting between asphalt and
polymer, the term ‘‘morphology’’ is often used [25]. A fluorescence microscope
FM-400 was utilized to observe the morphology of the SPMAs. The state of SBS
dispersion in the base asphalt can be determined. And the continuous and discon-
tinuous phases can be characterized as well. It has been proved that this technique
is the most valuable method to study the morphology of the polymer modified as-
phalt [14–16,26].
Due to the fluorescent effect of the SBS copolymer, the SBS modified asphalt can
be illuminated using blue light for excitation, and then the fluorescent yellow light
re-emitted by the polymer phase is observed under an optical microscope [27].
SPMA samples for the morphology analysis were prepared using the following
preparation method. After the modified sample was prepared, a glass rod was used
to dip into the sample immediately and one drop of it was put in the centre of a
glass slide. Then, this drop was covered by a piece of cover glass. In order to obtain
smooth surface of the sample for nice observation, the covered sample was heated
up to 135 °C at a certain heating rate in an oven, and a translucent film was formed
on the glass slide after about 10 min. After this, the film covered with a cover glass
was cooled down to the room temperature. And then, the samples were viewed un-
der the microscope with a magnification of 400 at room temperature. Images were
then recorded by a digital camera (fitted in line with the optic axis of the micro-
scope by means of an attachment to the trinocular observation head), as shown
in Fig. 1(a). The camera digitized the image and stored the data as an image file
in the permanent memory of a workshop.

2.3.1. Conventional asphalt tests 2.3.5. Image-Pro-Plus processing and analysis

The SBS modified asphalts were subjected to the following conventional asphalt
tests: softening point, penetration, and ductility test. The softening points (ring and
ball test) were measured according to GB/T 4507. Penetration tests were carried at
25 °C according to GB/T 4509. And ductility was determined at 5 °C on the basis of
GB/T 4508.
Image-Pro-Plus analysis program has been applied to extract significant infor-
mation from the captured images to determine the particle size distribution of poly-
mer, catalysts and other civil engineering materials [14,26]. In this paper, the image
processing and analysis were used to quantify particle size distribution of SBS in the
SPMAs.

Table 1
Properties of four base asphalts.

Items ZH QHD QHD LH Test methods

AH-90 AH-90 AH-70 AH-70
Softening point (°C) 45.0 44.9 48.5 48 GB/T 4507 [20]
Penetration (25 °C, 0.1 mm) 86 86 67 68 GB/T 4509 [21]
Ductility (25 °C, cm) >150 >150 >150 >150 GB/T 4508 [22]
Content of components
Saturates (S)/% 23.3 17.21 19.07 20.18 SH/T 0905 [23]
Aromatics(A)/% 35.0 42.56 39.85 39.18
Resins (R)/% 35.4 21.08 27.19 28.62
Asphaltenes (At)/% 6.3 14.36 14.17 10.96
 F. Dong et al. / Construction and Building Materials 62 (2014) 1–7
Fig. 1a. Fluorescent images of SBS PMA samples with 400 magnifications (original).
After the images had been captured by digital camera, they were transformed to
gray scale as shown in Fig. 1(b). Using the algorithms within the Image-Pro-Plus
program, operations including shading corrections, contrast/brightness optimizing,
white top hat (function to enhance the white detail and to remove the unwanted art
effects), and sharpen, enhancement were then applied to transform the original
image to binary image. The main purpose of this step was to isolate polymers from
composite images, therefore to prepare the images that were ready for quantified
measurements. Fifty different images of one sample were analyzed together in or-
der to improve the veracity of the obtained results.
3. Results and discussion
3.1. Influence of asphalt components on particle size distribution of SBS
and the properties of SBS modified asphalt
In this section, the 1301 SBS was selected to complete the
experiments due to its large amount usage in the domestic market.
The SBS loading level was 3% by weight of the modified asphalt.
The preparation parameters are referred to Section 2.2.
The particle size distributions of SBS in modified asphalts are
given in Fig. 2. It is observed that the range of SBS particle size dis-
tribution in modified asphalt LH AH-70 and QHD AH-90 was nar-
rower than that in the modified asphalt QHD AH-70 and ZH AH-90.
As we all known that asphalt is extremely complex and vari-
able, depending on the source of the crude oil from which the as-
phalt originates and modification induced by treatments in the
refinery. And SBS is a block copolymer of styrene and butadiene.
So the compatibility of SBS and asphalt is important for the
microstructure and performance of SBS modified asphalt.
Fig. 1b. Fluorescent images of SBS PMA samples with 400 magnifications.
3
Fig. 2. Influence of asphalt types on particle size distribution of SBS.
However, the compatibility of SBS and asphalt depends on their
compositions. Therefore, investigating the influence of chemical
composition and physical properties of asphalt on SBS modified
asphalt, especially for different base asphalts, could help to have
a better understand on the interaction of polymers with different
asphalts.
Cavaliere et al. [28] stated that when SBS was blended with as-
phalt, the elastomeric phase of SBS copolymer would absorb the oil
fractions from the asphalt and swell up to nine times as much as its
initial volume. Some researchers [29] showed that the contents of
aromatics in asphalt played a significant role in compatibility be-
tween asphalt and polymer, and the higher contents of aromatics
was, the better modified asphalt performed. Meanwhile, asphalt-
enes is an important part in asphalt, less lead to a better dispersion
of polymer but the high temperature performance of modified as-
phalt decreases; it prevents the polymer becoming small particle
as an obstacle and the low temperature performance of modified
asphalt also decreases if its content is sufficient. Kamiya [1]
showed that maltene, the soluble fraction extracted from asphalt
by n-heptane, could interact preferentially with the poly-butadi-
ene unit of SBS, whereas asphaltene, the insoluble fraction would
interact predominantly with the poly-styrene unit. Above all, it
should be concluded that the distribution of polymer in modified
asphalt closely related to contents of aromatics and asphaltenes.
Furthermore, the high aromatics content and the low asphaltenes
content could improve the dispersion of SBS.
The properties and components of the four asphalts are pre-
sented in Table 1. It is important to underline that the contents
of aromatics and asphaltenes are different among them, and the
contents of aromatics and asphaltenes in QHD AH-90, QHD AH-
70 and LH AH-70 asphalts are higher than that in ZH AH-90 as-
phalt. The four components of asphalts have absolutely different
interaction with the polymer and it is found that asphaltenes are
always less prone to be mixed. As shown in Fig. 2, asphalt compo-
nents have great influences of the dispersion of SBS in asphalt.
When the content of asphaltenes is a constant, the particle size
distribution of SBS is becoming narrower as aromatics content
increases. For example, the range of distribution of SBS in QHD
AH-90 asphalt is narrower than that in QHD AH-70 asphalt.
Meanwhile, when the content of aromatics is a constant, the range
of SBS distribution is becoming wider as asphaltenes content
increases. It is shown the curve of QHD AH-70 is wider than that
of LH AH-70. However, when the content of aromatics is too low,
the range of SBS distribution is also wider even though the asphalt-
enes content is low such as ZH AH-90 asphalt.
4 F. Dong et al. / Construction and Building Materials 62 (2014) 1–7
It is known that the chemical composition of asphalt affects the
properties of SBS modified asphalt. Fig. 3 illustrates the influence of
asphalt components on the properties of SBS modified asphalt. SBS
modification caused increases in both softening point and ductility
at low temperature, and reductions in penetration. Notably, there
are great differences in properties of SBS modified asphalt pre-
pared by different types of asphalt [1,30]. As for the different grade
of asphalt, the softening point of modified asphalt prepared by AH-
90 asphalt is lower than that of AH-70 asphalt. On the contrary,
penetration at 25 °C and ductility at 5 °C of modified asphalt pre-
pared by AH-90 is higher than that of AH-70 asphalt. As for the
same grade asphalt, the soften point of SBS modified asphalt de-
crease as aromatics content increases. While the contents of aro-
matics are similarly, the soften point and viscosity of SBS
modified asphalt increase as asphaltenes content increases. The re-
sults indicated that the high asphaltene content could improve the
high temperature performance of modified asphalt. Evidently, to
produce a polymer modified binder with good compatibility, the
content of aromatics of the base asphalt should be sufficiently high
for the polymer to compete with asphaltenes. Therefore, it is rea-
sonable to expect that the compatibility of SBS modified asphalts
may be improved by the addition of aromatic oil [31]. However,
an excessive content of aromatic or an insufficient content of
asphaltenes in base asphalt may lead to modified binders with a
single phase which show no significant improvement in mechani-
cal properties. Otherwise, the viscosity of modified asphalt is
increasing with the range of the particle size distribution curves
narrowing, which is in accord with the influence of the asphaltene
content.
3.2. Influence of SBS structure on particle size distribution of SBS and
the properties of SBS modified asphalt
In order to investigate the effect of the structure of SBS includ-
ing the types and block S/B ratios on the dispersion of SBS as well
as the performance of modified asphalt, four kinds of SBS with ra-
dial, linear and different S/B ratios were selected. In this part, four
kinds of SBS including 1201, 1301, 1401, and 4303 were used as
the modifiers. QHD AH-70 asphalt was chosen as the base asphalt.
The loading level of SBS was 3% by weight of modified asphalt. The
modification parameters have been mentioned in Section 2.2.
SBS is a tri-block copolymer with poly-styrene (PS) which is the
thermoplastic end block and poly-butadiene (PB) which is the rub-
bery midblock, linear and radial structure, different molecular
Fig. 3. Influence of asphalt types on the performance of SBS modified asphalt.
weights, and so on. And PS block and PB block play the different
role in modification. As shown in Fig. 4, the S/B ratios have a signif-
icant effect on the dispersion of SBS. On the contrary, radial and
linear SBS with the same S/B display almost present the same par-
ticle size distribution curves. As the S/B ratio of linear SBS in-
creases, the range of curves becomes narrower, and then wider
again. It is found that the range of the particle size distribution is
wider than others when the S/B was 20/80, which is from 0 to
6 lm, and the dispersion of SBS particles was heterogeneous.
When the S/B ratio increases to 30/70, the SBS particles were bro-
ken into small pieces and the range is from 0 to 2.0 lm. However,
when the S/B ratio continues to increase, the range of the particle
size distribution is becoming wider again. Polystyrene (PS) blocks
tend to clump with each other and clumped PS blocks are held to-
gether by poly-butadiene (PB) blocks, leading to a rubbery struc-
ture. While, PS blocks from the hard segment impart strength to
the resin, PB blocks from the soft segment increase the elasticity
of the copolymer [6,32]. Compared with the S/B ratio, the SBS type
has a different effect on the dispersion of SBS. There has a little dif-
ference between the range of radial SBS and linear SBS. The molec-
ular weights of radial SBS is twice times than that of linear SBS, and
the compatibility of radial SBS and asphalt is poorer, which have
bad effect on SBS dispersion.
The solubility parameter is an important measurement to pre-
dict compatibility between different materials, which has been
applied in polymer and relative fields. The approximate solubility
parameters of the asphalt components and that of the blocks of
the copolymers are listed in Table 3 [33]. It is found that asphalt-
enes are the most polar components and the PB blocks are less po-
lar than the PS ones. PB blocks are less polar than all the maltenes
constituents. Therefore, SBS is relatively miscible with maltenes,
but almost completely immiscible with asphaltenes. The solubility
parameter of the blocks PB is 16.5–17.6, which are easily swollen
by saturates. However, the solubility parameter of the blocks PS
is 18.6–19.8, which have good compatibility with aromatics. So it
could be concluded that the asphalt components have a great effect
on the dispersion of SBS. Generally speaking, with the blocks S/B
increasing, the gathering energy of the blocks PS is more. There-
fore, more energy is needed to disperse SBS in asphalt.
The relationships between the SBS structure and the perfor-
mance of SBS modified asphalt are shown in Fig. 5. As the block
S/B ratio increases, the values of the performance of SBS modified
asphalt including the softening point, the penetration at 25 °C, and
the viscosity at 135 °C have a peak value. This suggests that the SBS
Fig. 4. Influence of SBS structure on particle size distribution of SBS.
 F. Dong et al. / Construction and Building Materials 62 (2014) 1–7 5

Table 3 shear rate of 3000 rpm, shear time of 60 min, and shear tempera-
Solubility parameters of asphalt components and SBS polymer blocks. ture of 175 °C in Fig. 6.
Asphalt Solubility parameter Polymer Solubility parameter It is found that the SBS contents have the greatest effect on the
component (MPa)0.5 blocks (MPa)0.5 dispersion of SBS in asphalt presented in Fig. 6. The particle size
Saturates 17.4–20 PS 18.6–19.8 distribution curves shows great changes as the contents increase.
Aromatics 19–22.5 PB 16.5–17.6 The range of the curve at the SBS content of 1.0% is the narrowest
Resins 21.9–26.6 than others, which is 0–1.6 lm. Meanwhile, the SBS is dispersed
Asphaltenes 24.9–32.9
uniformly in asphalt and the particle size is small. At low polymer
content, the small polymer globules which are swollen by the base
asphalt compatible fractions are spread homogenously in a contin-
uous asphalt phase. That is to say, there is enough maltenes in as-
phalt to swell SBS and then make swollen SBS disperse into small
pieces uniformly. When the SBS content increases to 3.0%, the
curve have two peaks and the range of particle size distribution
is wider than that at content of 1.0%. However, when the content
of SBS continues to increase, particle size distribution curves of
SBS start to become complicated. Especially, when the content in-
creases to 5%, the range of the curve becomes wider than others,
which is 0–6 lm. At higher polymer concentrations, a larger quan-
tity of polar aromatics is subtracted from maltenes, and therefore,
the colloidal structure of asphaltene micelles or micellar aggre-
gates is no longer stabilized and tends to collapse. Meanwhile,
the maltenes in asphalt are limited [35]. SBS are not swollen suffi-
ciently as the content of SBS increases. Compared with the initial
composition of asphalt cement, the swelling of SBS cause an in-
crease in asphaltene content, and finally leads to a hard matrix.
So there is an optimum polymer content for the modified asphalt
which has good performance and superior dispersion of SBS.
Mohammad et al. [36] found that the phase morphology of two
Fig. 5. Influence of SBS structure on the performance of SBS modified asphalt. interlocked continuous phases was an ideal microstructure for
polymer modified road asphalt, and the optimum polymer content
was determined based on the formation of the critical network be-
structure has a great effect on the compatibility of modified as-
tween asphalt and polymer.
phalt and there is a moderate block S/B ratio for SBS. It has been
On the contrary, at the different polymer content, the effect of
reported that the glassy PS domains of SBS increase the stiffness
dispersion of SBS on the performance of modified asphalt is differ-
of asphalt for high temperature, whereas the rubbery PB midblocks
ent. As the content of polymer increases, the softening point of the
resist thermal cracking at low service temperatures [1]. In addition,
modified asphalt increases, while the penetration at 25 °C and the
the ductility at 5 °C decreases regularly with the increase of S/B ra-
ductility at 5 °C decreases shown in Figs. 7a and 7b. There is limited
tio. The PS is the hard segment and with the S/B ratio increasing,
increase in viscosity and softening point at a concentration of 1%
the hardness of SBS is growing, and so the tenacity of SBS becomes
because the SBS only acts as a dispersed polymer. As the penetra-
badly. Notably, whether the type of SBS is radial or linear, the soft-
tion and softening point results, the viscosities also give an indica-
ening point and the viscosity at 135 °C are higher than others while
tion of the stiffening effect of SBS modification. The viscosity values
the penetration at 25 °C is lower than others when the block S/B
and modification indices related to modified asphalt prepared by
ratio is 30/70, which are consistent with the effects of SBS structure
high content SBS are higher than that prepared by low content
on the dispersion of SBS. Meanwhile, the softening point and the
SBS. This may be due to that the higher content of SBS needs more
viscosity of radial SBS modified asphalt is higher than that of linear
one, which is due to the higher molecular weights and stereo-hin-
drance effect of radial SBS.

3.3. Influence of SBS contents on particle size distribution of SBS and

the properties of SBS modified asphalt

The minimum percentage of polymer needed to ensure the

formation of a continuous phase depends, to a greater extent, on
the base asphalt rather than on the polymer [34]. Meanwhile,
SBS contents have significantly effect on the dispersion of SBS
and the performance of SBS modified asphalt.
As shown in Section 3.3, the effect of the compatibility on the
performance of modified asphalt depends on the chemical compo-
sition of asphalt and SBS as well as the contents of SBS. A linear SBS
which is commonly used recently was selected and the loading le-
vel of SBS designed were 1%, 3%, and 5% because of the max content
of SBS about 4–5% in industrial application. It is depicted that the
particle size distribution curves show a clear change in the disper-
sion of SBS in modified asphalt as SBS polymer content increases at Fig. 6. Influence of SBS content on particle size distribution of SBS.
6 F. Dong et al. / Construction and Building Materials 62 (2014) 1–7
Fig. 7a. Influence of SBS content on the performance of SBS modified asphalt.
Fig. 7b. Influence of SBS content on the performance of SBS modified asphalt.
maltenes at the same process condition. However, the maltenes in
asphalt are limited. It should be also mentioned that the perfor-
mance of the modified asphalt is not only dependent on the
polymer dispersion but also on the polymer content. This means
the high values of polymer dispersion does not always reflect the
continuous polymer phase. These results are consistent with the
effects of polymer content on the dispersion of SBS.
4. Conclusions
In this study, SBS copolymer was blended with asphalt to
investigate the effect of SBS modification on asphalt binder proper-
ties. The asphalt type, SBS structure and contents have significant
impacts on the particle size distribution of SBS polymer and the
performance of SBS modified asphalt.
The contents of aromatics in asphalt play a significant role in
compatibility between asphalt and polymer, and the higher
contents of aromatics was, the better the performance of modified
asphalt. Meanwhile, asphaltenes content must be proper. The high
aromatics content and the low asphaltenes content could improve
the dispersion of SBS in asphalt. With the range of the particle size
distribution curves narrowing, the viscosity of modified asphalt
increases.
As the S/B ratio increases, there is a moderate S/B ratio for the
dispersion of SBS and the performance of modified asphalt. When
the S/B ratio is 30/70, the particle size distribution curve is narrow-
est and the performance of modified asphalt is improved higher
than others. However, the dispersion of SBS and the trends of per-
formance of modified asphalt prepared by radial and linear SBS at
the S/B of 30/70 have little difference.
The content of SBS also has great effect on the dispersion of SBS
and the performance of modified asphalt. However, the results are
contrary to that of the other factors. Lowering content of SBS is
conducive to improve the dispersion of SBS, but has bad effect on
the performance of modified asphalt; in other words, the particle
size distribution becomes wider and the softening point of the
modified asphalt increases, the penetration and the ductility
decreases, as the content of SBS increases.
Acknowledgements
This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foun-
dation of China (51008307), the Fundamental Research Funds for
the Central Universities (09CX04039A), and the Graduate innova-
tion Project of China University of Petroleum (East China)
(CX2013036).
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