Principal investigator: Balazs Hargittai
University: Saint Francis University
Industry partner: 3S Chemicals, LLC
The U.S. has many thousands of miles of interstate highway and nearly 4 million miles of publicly owned local roads; Pennsylvania alone has over 120,000 miles of highway. Approximately 94% of paved roads are surfaced with asphalt. To improve asphalt production for road paving, we propose the development of a chemical modifier for existing polymeric asphalt binders. In a collaboration between the Saint Francis University chemistry department and 3S Chemicals, LLC, we will optimize the process for adding a functional group to modifiers on commonly used polymeric binders during the polymeric reaction. Increasing the binder’s adherence to asphalt aggregate is expected to increase the life of asphalt roads by reducing the ability of the binder to strip off the asphalt while increasing the elasticity and resilience of the asphalt. The resulting product will then be manufactured in Pennsylvania and available for distribution nationwide as part of the multi-billion-dollar asphalt additive market.