Improving the Aging Resistance of Bitumen by Reduction

The aging properties of bitumen evaluated by means of Fourier transform Infrared spectroscopy. The effect of sodium borohydride as a reducing agent on the chemical structure of bitumen in aging process was studied. The bitumen was aged by means of the rolling thin film oven test then pressure aging vessel. Reduced modified bitumen were resistant to the formation of carbonyl and sulfoxide groups nearly unchanged, indicating the improvement of aging resistance of bitumen by the reduction process. As well as physical properties tests (penetration and softening point) of bitumen showed the more resistance of reduced modified bitumen against aging.