Engineering advances in polymer-modified bitumen for sustainable road construction: a review.
5 affiliations
- 1Institute of Combustion Problems Almaty Kazakhstan.
- 2Faculty of Natural Science and Geography, Abay Kazakh National Pedagogical University Almaty Kazakhstan.
- 3Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, Al-Farabi Kazakh National University Almaty Kazakhstan.
- 4The Institute of New Materials and Energy Technologies, Nazarbayev University Astana Kazakhstan [email protected].
- 5Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell University New York USA [email protected].
Abstract
Road infrastructure is under increasing pressure from heavier traffic, wider temperature fluctuations, accelerated aging, and stricter sustainability targets. Conventional bitumen, although widely used as a binder in asphalt pavements, often shows inadequate resistance to rutting at high temperatures, fatigue damage under repeated loading, and thermal cracking at low temperatures. Polymer modification has therefore become one of the most effective strategies for improving binder performance and extending pavement service life. Recent studies show that elastomers, plastomers, recycled polymers, and crumb rubber can substantially enhance the viscoelastic balance, durability, and temperature susceptibility of asphalt binders. At the same time, the field is evolving beyond conventional modification toward multifunctional systems integrating waste-derived materials, nanomaterials, self-healing concepts, and smart sensing technologies. Rather than treating polymer modifiers as isolated material classes, this review establishes a structure-interaction-performance framework linking modifier chemistry and processing with polymer-bitumen interactions, morphology evolution, storage stability, binder rheology, and asphalt-mixture and pavement-level performance. The review therefore considers polymer modification across multiple scales, from binder-level physicochemical and rheological behavior to relevant mixture-level mechanical performance and pavement implications. The framework further integrates emerging sustainable and multifunctional strategies, including waste-derived modifiers, polymer-assisted oxidative upgrading, nanomaterials, self-healing systems, and smart pavement technologies.
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BibTeX
@article{kanzharkan2026engineering,
title = {{Engineering advances in polymer-modified bitumen for sustainable road construction: a review.}},
author = {Yernar Kanzharkan and Yerbol Tileuberdi and Yerdos Ongarbayev and Yerzhan Imanbayev and Elmira Nurgaziyeva and Munziya Abutalip},
journal = {RSC advances},
year = {2026},
month = oct,
doi = {10.1039/d6ra06361f},
url = {https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948497},
note = {CC BY},
}
RIS
TY - JOUR
TI - Engineering advances in polymer-modified bitumen for sustainable road construction: a review.
AU - Yernar Kanzharkan
AU - Yerbol Tileuberdi
AU - Yerdos Ongarbayev
AU - Yerzhan Imanbayev
AU - Elmira Nurgaziyeva
AU - Munziya Abutalip
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/10/27
JO - RSC advances
DO - 10.1039/d6ra06361f
UR - https://europepmc.org/article/MED/42948497
AB - Road infrastructure is under increasing pressure from heavier traffic, wider temperature fluctuations, accelerated aging, and stricter sustainability targets. Conventional bitumen, although widely used as a binder in asphalt pavements, often shows inadequate resistance to rutting at high temperatures, fatigue damage under repeated loading, and thermal cracking at low temperatures. Polymer modification has therefore become one of the most effective strategies for improving binder performance and extending pavement service life. Recent studies show that elastomers, plastomers, recycled polymers, and crumb rubber can substantially enhance the viscoelastic balance, durability, and temperature susceptibility of asphalt binders. At the same time, the field is evolving beyond conventional modification toward multifunctional systems integrating waste-derived materials, nanomaterials, self-healing concepts, and smart sensing technologies. Rather than treating polymer modifiers as isolated material classes, this review establishes a structure-interaction-performance framework linking modifier chemistry and processing with polymer-bitumen interactions, morphology evolution, storage stability, binder rheology, and asphalt-mixture and pavement-level performance. The review therefore considers polymer modification across multiple scales, from binder-level physicochemical and rheological behavior to relevant mixture-level mechanical performance and pavement implications. The framework further integrates emerging sustainable and multifunctional strategies, including waste-derived modifiers, polymer-assisted oxidative upgrading, nanomaterials, self-healing systems, and smart pavement technologies.
SN - 2046-2069
ER -