Asphalt modification with different polyethylene-based polymers

Several polyethylene and polyethylene-based copolymers were used to modify a 70/100 penetration grade asphalt from vacuum distillation. The morphological and storage stability analyses showed that, in all cases, the obtained materials were strongly biphasic and tended to separate into polymer-rich and asphalt-rich phases. However, among the tested polymers, a linear low-density polyethylene allowed for the preparation of a mix that had strongly enhanced mechanical properties, with respect to those of the base asphalt. Mixes with different percentages of this polymer were, therefore, prepared and studied from a rheological point of view, both in the range of small and large deformations. The analysis showed that, in spite of its insolubility, the polymer spread continuously through the asphalt matrix and that the obtained properties can probably be ascribed to the formation of a very low extent of crosslinking between the polymer chains.