Characterisation of Synthetic Binders

However, one of the main problems in the 21 century will be the lack of natural resources [7, 8]. In particular, our dependence on fossil fuels will exhaust the existing reserves in a few decades due to this scenario, nations have to develop and improve new technologies for the recovery and processing of petroleum and its derivatives, and search for new energy sources. 

Nevertheless, the recycling operations of plastic waste produce a new recycled plastic with inferior properties compared to the virgin plastic [9]. Recycled plastics such as low-density polyethylene (LDPE), ethylene-vinyl acetate (EVA) and so on, can be used as bitumen modifiers [10-12] or even as raw materials in the formulation of synthetic binders [13, 14]. 

Synthetic binders started to be used as materials for road construction at the beginning of the 20 century [15, 16]. The main advantage of synthetic binders is their colourability, i.e., they can be colourless. For instance, a clear road surface can 

Synthetic binders are special formulations with a clear appearance that imitate, or even improve, the mechanical properties of bitumen [18]. Typical formulations consist of blending a tackifying resin, a dispersing oil [19] and a polymer [16,20,21]. This formulation enables the manufacture of organic binders from renewable raw materials of vegetal origin [18]. 

The aim of this chapter is to evaluate the effect of altering the composition of synthetic binders, in order to design new materials with selected properties. Rheological, thermal, microstructural and technological tests have been developed to characterise synthetic binders, describe the interactions among their components and to predict their properties. In references [20-22], the thermomechanical properties of binary blends were studied and correlated as a function of composition and temperature. 

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