Pyrolyzed wax from recycled cross-linked polyethylene as warm mix asphalt (WMA) additive for SBS modified asphalt

Recycled polyethylene wax is a kind of pyrolyzed wax obtained from the recycled polyethylene. Effects of recycled pyrolytic cross-linked polyethylene wax (RPPW) on the properties of base asphalt and SBS modified asphalt were investigated. The effects of RPPW and Sasobit wax on the asphalt performance, structure and thermal behavior were also compared. RPPW showed superior viscosity decreasing effect on SBS modified asphalt at high-temperature. Addition of RPPW reduced penetration, increased softening point and penetration index of both base asphalt and SBS modified asphalt. Addition of RPPW also increased the complex modulus and decreased the phase angle of base asphalt and SBS modified asphalt. The results show that asphalts modified by RPPW have promised remarkable construction performance at lower temperature for warm mix asphalt. Therefore, this study represents a novel attempt to deal with the rapid growth of cross-linked polyethylene, which is very significant from an environmental and economic standpoint.