Investigation the self-healing mechanism of aged bitumen using microcapsules containing rejuvenator

Abstract The aim of this paper is to investigate the self-healing mechanism of aged bitumen using microcapsules containing rejuvenator. Various microcapsule samples were successfully fabricated and the mean size and shell thickness were adjusted. It was found that the shell thickness was not greatly affected by the core/shell ratios and the emulsion stirring rates. These microcapsules can survive in melting bitumen with a good thermal stability. Based on these data, a typical microcapsule sample, fabricated by 3000 r min −1 with core/shell ratio of 2/1, was selected to investigate the self-healing mechanism. The whole self-healing process was observed including the crack generation, capillarity and the diffusion behaviors. The results showed that microcapsules broke by microcracks and leaked the oily–liquid rejuvenator into microcracks. With the help of capillarity, the rejuvenator filled the cracks with a movement speed mainly determined by the volume of microcapsules in bitumen. A diffusion phenomenon was also observed by using a fluorescence microscope. Properties of virgin and rejuvenated bitumen measurements confirmed that the aged bitumen can be partly recovered by the microcapsules containing rejuvenator.

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