Storage stability and anti-aging performance of SEBS/ organ-montmorillonite modified asphalt

In order to investigate the properties of styrene-ethylene-butadiene-styrene copolymer (SEBS)/organ-montmorillonite (OMMT) modified asphalt, the physical properties, storage stability at high temperature, rheological properties, anti-aging performance and micro morphology were analyzed. The results show that SEBS could enhance both the high and low temperature performance significantly, but due to the poor compatibility between SEBS and asphalt, the serious phase separation would happen during the hot storage of modified asphalt. The 3 wt% of OMMT were added into the modified asphalt containing 4 wt% SEBS, it can be found that the OMMT could not only further improve the high temperature performance but also increase the interaction between SEBS and asphalt molecules, which promotes the uniform distribution of SEBS in asphalt matrix and dramatically improves the hot storage stability of SEBS modified asphalt, the addition of OMMT makes the softening point difference of SEBS modified asphalt decrease from 8.5 °C to 1.1 °C. Furthermore, the layered OMMT can alleviate the short-term and long-term aging of SEBS modified asphalt due to the inhibition effects of OMMT platelets on volatilization of asphalt's light components and the penetration of oxygen into the asphalt.