Author(s)

L. C. Mendes, M. L. Dias, P. S. C. Pereira, L. M. R. Albuquerque

Centro de Tecnologia, Instituto de Macromoléculas Professora Eloisa Mano-IMA, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro-UFRJ, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.

To develop an improved method of reusing poly(ethylene terephthalate) (PET) waste in the production chain, it was chemically modified with pentaerythritol (PENTE), resulting in PET/PENTE (60/40) oligomer. This was added to petroleum asphalt cement (CAP) in different proportions—5, 10 and 20 wt%—as a modifier of bitumen characteristics. The mixture was evaluated by thermogravimetry (TG/DTG), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), optical microscopy (OM) and the adhesion-peel test. The oligomer enhanced substantially the asphalt thermal stability-Tonset. OM images showed strong compatibility between components and PET’s amorphization. PET oligomer increased CAP’s wettability and the mixture presented cohesive fracture through the peel test. The mixture has excellent potential as paving material.

PET Waste; Pentaerythritol; CAP; Recycling

L. Mendes, M. Dias, P. Pereira and L. Albuquerque, "PET Oligomer Waste to Modify CAP Characteristics," Materials Sciences and Applications, Vol. 3 No. 8, 2012, pp. 575-579. doi: 10.4236/msa.2012.38082.