A smart asphalt mixture holds new capabilities different from the original ones or can react to a stimulus. These capabilities can be categorized based on smartness or function: smartness, mechanical, electrical, optical, energy harvesting, electromagnetic wave/radiation shielding/absorbing, and water related. The most important capabilities applied to asphalt mixtures are the photocatalytic, self-cleaning, self-healing, superhydrophobic, thermochromic, deicing/anti-icing, and latent heat thermal energy storage abilities. This research deals with a bibliometric review of the peer-reviewed journal articles published on the Scopus database, with the strings of terms related to these capabilities and asphalt or bitum in their titles, abstracts, and keywords. The review analysis highlighted the increasing number of accumulated publications, confirming the relevance of this research topic in recent years. The capability most often referred to was self-healing. The study showed that China was the most productive country. Research articles were mostly published in the journal Construction and Building Materials. Several techniques and methods are being developed regarding smart asphalt mixtures; for that reason, this research work aims to evaluate the literature under a bibliometric analysis.
The sustainable development of our societies demands strong efforts on scientific and technological research while informing and educating students and the general population. Air pollution and road safety hazards constitute two main public health problems that are insufficiently addressed pedagogically. With this work, we aim to contribute to tackeling the problem by presenting the results of scientific research on the development of photocatalytic, superhydrophobic, and self-cleaning recycled asphalt mixtures to achieve an eco-social friendly and smart material able to mitigate socioenvironmental impacts. The functionalization of asphalt is implemented by spraying particles’ solutions over a conventional AC 10, then evaluated by dye degradation and wettability. Firstly, different particles’ solutions (with nano-TiO2 and/or micro-PTFE under water, ethyl alcohol, and dimethyl ketone) were sprayed to select the best solution (BS), which was composed of TiO2-PTFE (4 g/L each) in ethyl alcohol. Two successive spraying coatings (diluted epoxy resin and BS) were performed over conventional and recycled AC 10 (with reclaimed asphalt pavement and steel slags). Their efficiency decreases with the highest resin amounts. The best results were obtained with 0.25 g resin and BS. For the lowest resin amount, all mixtures achieved superhydrophobicity and performed similarly regarding wettability.
Aging by oxidation of asphalt roadway material promotes changes in its physical, chemical, and rheological properties, affecting its hardening and accelerating the degradation of its corresponding asphalt mixture. Titanium dioxide (TiO2) has been applied in engineering investigations to promote anti-aging and photocatalytic properties. In this study, a commercial binder was modified with nano-TiO2 (using contents of 0.1, 0.25, 0.5, 1, 2, 3, and 6%). It was evaluated by physicochemical and rheological tests (penetration, softening point, mass loss, dynamic viscosity, rheology, and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy—FTIR) before and after aging by rolling thin-film oven test (RTFOT) and pressure aging vessel (PAV). The results indicated that incorporating nano-TiO2 mitigates binder aging, pointing out 0.25% as an optimum modification content for the investigated asphalt binder.
Asphalt road pavements are usually dark and, consequently, have a low albedo. Therefore, they absorb energy as heat, increasing the Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect, which impacts the environment, energy consumption, and human health. Through the functionalization with thermochromic materials (TM), this work aims to develop a smart asphalt pavement able to change its surface color, increasing the reflectance, and thus mitigate this phenomenon. To achieve this goal, asphalt substrates were functionalized by a surface spray coating of a thermochromic solution (TS) containing aqueous solution of thermochromic microcapsules (thermocapsules), dye, and epoxy resin. To evaluate the functionalization features, Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR), and Thermal Differential test (TDT) with cyclic temperature variation were performed in the functionalized asphalt binder. Moreover, Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy-Dispersive X-ray Spectrometry (EDS), a Quick Ultraviolet Accelerated Weathering Test (QUV) with Colorimetry test, and an adaptation of the Accelerated Polishing Test (APT) were performed on the functionalized asphalt mixture. The results indicate that the functionalization of asphalt substrates with TS exhibits a reversible color-change ability, higher luminosity values when subjected to temperatures above 30 °C, and wear resistance.
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