# Preparation and Performance Study of Thermoplastic Polyurethane/Graphene Oxide Modified Asphalt

## TL;DR

This paper studies how adding thermoplastic polyurethane and graphene oxide improves asphalt's performance for better road use.

## Contribution

A novel TPU/GO additive with dynamic disulfide bonds is introduced to enhance asphalt performance.

## Key findings

- TPU/GO-modified asphalt shows significantly better low-temperature ductility and stress relaxation.
- GO improves asphalt's high-temperature rutting resistance and creep recovery.
- 8% TPU/GO is the optimal dosage for balancing multiple performance aspects.

## Abstract

To prepare a modified asphalt with excellent road performance, thermoplastic polyurethane/graphene oxide (TPU/GO) incorporating dynamic disulfide bonds was developed as an additive and the synergistic effect of TPU and GO on asphalt was evaluated. Modified asphalts with different TPU/GO contents (2%, 4%, 6%, 8%) were prepared and TPU-modified asphalts were also prepared as control groups. The compatibility between TPU/GO and asphalt was evaluated by fluorescence microscopy (FM) and the dispersion of GO in TPU and asphalt was observed by emission scanning electron microscope (SEM). The road performance of modified asphalts was also assessed in this study. The FM results show that TPU/GO has good compatibility with asphalt, and the SEM results reveal that GO can be uniformly dispersed in TPU matrix, so that GO can also be evenly dispersed in asphalt and avoid the problem of GO aggregation in asphalt. The results also demonstrate that TPU/GO-modified asphalt comprehensively utilizes the respective advantages of TPU and GO. TPU/GO-modified asphalt has excellent low-temperature performance compared with base asphalt. The 5 °C ductility of 8%TPU/GO-modified asphalt is 440% higher than that of base asphalt and the BBR test also showed that the stress relaxation capacity of TPU/GO-modified asphalt is also significantly stronger than that of base asphalt. Moreover, the introduction of GO in asphalt can improve the creep recovery rate and complex modulus compared with TPU-modified asphalt, indicating better high-temperature rutting resistance. Comprehensive performance evaluation indicates that 8% TPU/GO-modified asphalt is the optimal dosage for engineering applications, balancing high-temperature rutting resistance, storage stability, anti-aging performance, and low-temperature behavior.