Assessment and mechanism of antioxidant activity of phenols as asphalt antioxidants

ABSTRACT

The interest in the antioxidant properties of phenolic compounds in asphalt has grown significantly. This study primarily focuses on the comprehensive assessment and elucidation of the antioxidant activity mechanisms of various phenolic compounds as asphalt antioxidants. The suitability of different antioxidant indices for evaluating the effectiveness of phenolic anti-aging agents in base and SBS modified asphalt is assessed by experimental outcomes. Through this analysis, the anti-aging mechanism of phenolic antioxidants in asphalt is unveiled. Phenolic antioxidants were observed to diminish the G* value of aged asphalt, elevate the δ values of aged asphalt binder, augment the non-recoverable creep compliance of aged asphalt binder, decrease the percent recovery of aged asphalt binder, enhance the fatigue performance of aged asphalt binder, and lower the Ic = o and Ic = c of aged asphalt binder. This indicates that phenolic antioxidants improve the aging and fatigue resistance of asphalt binders, with antioxidant activities in the following order: p-Coumaric acid < resveratrol < tea polyphenol. Moreover, incorporating phenolic antioxidants into SBS modified asphalt not only restrains asphalt oxidation but also mitigates SBS degradation.

KEYWORDS:

• Phenolic antioxidants
• antioxidant activity
• modified asphalt
• rheological properties
• chemical characterisation
• antioxidant mechanism

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

CRediT authorship contribution statement

The authors confirm contribution to the paper as follows: study conception and design: Shinan Liu, Houzhi Wang, Jun Yang; data collection: Shinan Liu; analysis and interpretation of results: Shinan Liu; draft manuscript preparation: Shinan Liu; All authors reviewed the results and approved the final version of the manuscript.

Data availability

Data will be made available on request.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by National Natural Science Foundation of China [grant number: 52078130, 52378444, 52308445]; Key Laboratory of Transport Industry of Comprehensive Transportation Theory (Nanjing Modern Multimodal Transportation Laboratory) (No. MTF2023015), Ministry of Transport, PRC; Major Technology Demonstration of Epoxy Asphalt in Pavement as a Green Highly Efficient Carbon Mitigation Technology of Jiangsu, China (Major Technology Demonstration Program) [grant number: BE2022615]; Major Science and Technology Project of Nanjing [grant number: 202209012]. This research work is also supported by the Big Data Computing Center of Southeast University.