SONGKLANAKARIN JOURNAL OF SCIENCE & TECHNOLOGY

Volume 42, No. 06, Month NOVEMBER, Year 2020, Pages 1360 - 1367

Performance characteristics of agbabu natural bitumen ternary nano composite with polypropylene and multiwall carbon nanotubes

Taofeek Olalekan Salawudeen , Akeem Olatunde Arinkoola , Abass Olanrewaju Alade , Kazeem Kolapo Salam , Oluwakemi Augustina Olufayo , Monsurat Omolola Jimoh and Ebenezer Olujimi Dada

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The modification of bitumen using polymers has reached its limits due to rutting and cracking problems under severe temperatures. Yet, there are few studies on bitumen blends using multiple materials. This research investigated the effects of Multiwall Carbon Nanotubes (MWCNT) in a ternary mixture (Agbabu bitumen (ANB) - polypropylene (PP) – MWCNT) and optimized the functional formulation. Certain properties of ANB, such as the loss in ductility, flash, fire, penetration, and softening points were improved by blending MWCNT (0.1 – 1.21 g), PP (0.15 – 4.05 g) and ANB (94.79 – 99.75 g). The improvements were by 43.27, 43.76, 78.41 and 2.80% for flash, fire, penetration, and softening points with the optimal blend of 97.92, 0.1 and 1.98 g of ANB, MWCNT, and PP, respectively. This large improvement in composite properties is superior to the polymeric binary systems, and concordant with ASTM and BS standard requirements.

Keywords

bitumen, modification, multiwall carbon nanotubes, polymeric bitumen, optimization

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