Evaluation of Pigment-Modified Clear Binders and Asphalts: An Approach towards Sustainable, Heat Harvesting, and Non-Black Pavements

Pavement construction practices have evolved due to increasing environmental impact and urban heat island (UHI) effects, as pavements, covering over 30% of urban areas, contribute to elevated air temperatures. This study introduces heat-reflective pavements, by replacing conventional black bitumen with a clear binder and pigment-modified clear binders. Titanium dioxide white, zinc ferrite yellow, and iron oxide red pigments are used to give asphalt corresponding shades. The asphalt and bitumen specimens were subjected to thermal analysis in heat sinks, under varying solar fluxes. The pigment dosage was maintained at 4%, according to the weight of the total mix, for all pigment types. The samples were heated and cooled for 3 h and 2 h, respectively. Mechanical testing was conducted to ascertain the impact of temperature variations on both the neat clear binder (C.B) and pigmented C.B and asphalt mixture samples. Wheel tracking and dynamic modulus tests were conducted to evaluate their performance under high temperatures. The results indicate that non-black asphalt mixtures exhibit significant temperature reductions, up to 9 °C, which are further enhanced by pigmented binders, up to 11 °C. It was found that asphalt with a clear or transparent binder demonstrated lower temperatures and faster heat dissipation in extreme conditions. Moreover, C.B asphalt mixtures displayed a rut resistance of 15%, with the pigmented C.B asphalt mixture showing a remarkable rut resistance of 73%, outperforming conventional asphalt. Non-black mixtures, especially C.B + zinc ferrite, showed improved resistance to permanent deformation in dynamic modulus tests.

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