Synthesis and Evaluation of Modified Polyethylene Wax Applied as Dispersant in Rubber Bitumen Composites

Abstract

Grain rubber obtained from waste tyre has become one of the most important bitumen modifiers nowadays, but rubber precipitation from bitumen can cause problems during utilization. In our experimental work additives were synthesised as dispersant for rubber bitumen composites. Raw material was polyethylene wax (PEW) obtained from mild thermal cracking of polyethylene waste. The synthesis was a copolymerisation of olefins and maleic-anhydride. During the products evaluation the main analytical method was Fourier transform infra-red (FT-IR) spectroscopy. There were significant differences between the characteristic of raw material and synthesised products. The dispersant effect of the additives was studied in rubber-bitumen composites. All additives increased the stability of rubber-bitumen composites. From the results of the experiments it was stated that the modified polyethylene wax obtained from polyethylene waste can solve the instability problem of rubber-bitumen composites.