Solventless fingerprinting of bituminous materials: A high-resolution thermogravimetric method

The thermogravimetry (TG) of bituminous materials by means of a constant heat rate is often plagued by low resolution and poor reproducibility of the degradation or mass loss temperatures. The TG curve, or the associated differential TG (DTG) signal, is thus an unreliable quality control or quality assurance (QC/QA) method. A 2- and 3-step high-resolution TG/DTG method was developed for these materials for analysis between 150 and 800 °C. The DTG results, obtained within 2 h, show about 10 discrete mass loss peaks, the profile being material dependent. The reproducibility of the results indicates that the methods may be used for rapid QC/QA and material fingerprinting. The development of the method is detailed and its application is illustrated with the analysis of several bitumens and polymer-modified bituminous sealants.