Investigation on compatibility and microstructure of PCBs‐modified asphalt

Abstract

ABSTRACT Due to the increasing production of waste Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs), there is a strong need to investigate the effective method how to recycle PCBs for protecting the environment. In this study, the PCBs were added to asphalt for preparing the PCBs‐modified asphalt to improve the performance of asphalt. The influences of PCBs on Cole‐Cole plots, segregation index, ratio difference number, and microstructure of modified asphalt were evaluated by storage stability tests, dynamic shear rheometer tests, fluorescence microscopy analysis, and fourier‐transform infrared spectroscopy analysis, respectively. The results show that addition of PCBs can improve rheological properties of asphalt and the PCBs content has significant influence on the compatibility and microstructure of modified asphalt. The optimum content of PCBs is no more than 10 wt % for the better compatibility and storage stability of PCBs‐modified asphalt. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44798.