Ternary Gels of a Polymer Blend and a Recycled Oil: Their Use as Bitumen Modifiers

A blend of random ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and triblock styrene‐butadiene‐styrene copolymer (SBS) was dissolved in a recycled engine oil to obtain ternary thermoreversible gels. As the temperature was increased, first a network associated with EVA disappeared, and a second one associated with SBS dominated, maintaining the elastic response of the system. The principal advantage of these ternary systems is that their mechanical properties and thermal stability are better than that of binary gels. These gels, made from waste, can be used as bitumen modifiers to obtain binders of improved properties and good stability, which are useful for road surfacing.

Temperature sweeps of elastic modulus performed at a frequency of 1 Hz.