Preparation and performance characterization of waterborne epoxy resin modified asphalt emulsion for tack coat

Abstract

In order to eliminate the possible drawbacks of waterborne epoxy resin (WER) generated by the phase inversion method and the chemical modification method, this study prepared WER using a novel method, i.e., epoxy resin was introduced into the molecular structure of aqueous acrylic resin; after the combination of epoxy resin and the aqueous dispersion process, the aqueous epoxy acrylic resin can be prepared. Waterborne epoxy resin modified emulsified asphalt (WEREA) was then prepared for the application of a tack coat material. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (FTIR) test was conducted to explore the possible reactions between the compositions. A rheology test, direct tension test, pull-off bonding test, and oblique shear test were also conducted. Results indicated that in the FTIR test, a new peak around 1732 cm⁻¹ was formed due to the reaction between the carboxyl functional group in WER and the amino group in curing agent to form an ester bond. The incorporation of WER led to an elevation in the complex modulus and a simultaneous reduction in the phase angle of WEREA. When the temperature was larger than 60 °C, the phase angle showed a decreased trend, indicating the material became less viscous due to the increased temperature, illustrating thermosetting characteristics of epoxy resin. As the content of waterborne epoxy resin (WER) increased, there was an observed decrease in the direct tensile rate, coupled with a concurrent increase in direct tensile strength. When the ratio of emulsified asphalt and WER was 1:0.6, the tensile strength of WEREA increased by 811% in contrast to the specimen without the inclusion of WER. There existed different optimal WER contents for the pull-off strength tests conducted on different substrates. For asphalt concrete substrate and steel slab substrate, the optimum ratio of emulsified asphalt to WER + curing agent was 1:0.4, and 1:0.8 was the optimum ratio for the cement concrete substrate. When the ratio between emulsified asphalt and the combination of WER along with the curing agent was 1:0.4 (WEREA-4), the oblique shear strength obtained the maximum value, which was increased by 18.7% in contrast to WEREA-0.