University of Antwerp, EMIB Research Group, Groenenborgerlaan 171, Antwerp 2020, Belgium.
University of Antwerp, EMIB Research Group, Groenenborgerlaan 171, Antwerp 2020, Belgium.
Micron. 2021 Aug;147:103083. doi: 10.1016/j.micron.2021.103083. Epub 2021 May 21.
Undoubtedly bitumen's viscoelastic performance has received much attention in the literature. Especially, the oxidative ageing phenomenon of bitumen has been studied by several scholars from different physicochemical and mechanical perspectives due to its direct impact on asphalt performance. The microstructural patterns observed with ageing utilising different microscopic techniques have not remained unexplored, and an increasing interest has been expressed to understand the bitumen's architecture by coupling it with different theories. This review aims to provide a useful guide for the road engineer by collecting all the existing microstructural trends that have been reported upon ageing by utilising some of the most promising microscopic techniques. The study demonstrates the changes being observed for the size of the so-called bee structures via Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM). The apparent fibril microstructure captured with Environmental Scanning Electron Microscopy (ESEM) consistently reported in the literature to become denser and coarser with ageing. The existing findings of Confocal Laser Scanning Microscopy (CLSM) revealed the conflicting observations that exist for the fluorescent centres of bitumen upon oxidation, concerning their size and number. Finally, this paper provides a comparative analysis of the three techniques for bitumen applications and recommends a systematic sample preparation protocol to move towards more consistent observations between the different research groups.
毫无疑问,沥青的黏弹性性能在文献中受到了广泛关注。特别是,由于氧化老化现象直接影响沥青性能,因此几位学者从不同的物理化学和力学角度研究了沥青的氧化老化现象。利用不同的微观技术观察到的老化微观结构模式并没有被忽视,并且越来越有兴趣通过结合不同的理论来理解沥青的结构。本综述旨在通过收集所有利用最有前途的微观技术报告的老化微观结构趋势,为道路工程师提供有用的指南。该研究通过原子力显微镜(AFM)展示了所谓的 bee 结构大小的观察到的变化。文献中一致报道的环境扫描电子显微镜(ESEM)中捕获的明显原纤微结构随着老化变得更加致密和粗糙。共焦激光扫描显微镜(CLSM)的现有研究结果揭示了关于氧化过程中沥青荧光中心的大小和数量存在相互矛盾的观察结果。最后,本文对这三种技术在沥青应用中的进行了比较分析,并建议了一种系统的样品制备方案,以促进不同研究小组之间更一致的观察结果。