Applications of Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy technologies on asphalt materials

Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) has been widely used as a fast and accurate tool for detecting and analyzing organic materials for several decades since it was initially introduced to study the asphalt material. Since FTIR is able to distinguish asphalt at the molecular level, thus providing researchers an opportunity to explore the asphalt chemical characteristics. This review focused on evaluating the application of FTIR technologies in exploring the characteristics of asphalt material. The basic principle of FTIR and its test methods were briefly introduced. In addition, the main applications of the FTIR on asphalt were divided into three parts, including materials recognition, processing recognition and aging recognition in this review. The purpose of this review article is to provide the reference and guidance for researchers who intend to use FTIR to discover the aging characteristics and mechanism of the modified asphalt as well as some other special applications.