Application of Hydrocarbon-based Graphene in Asphalt Pavement in Hu Bei

Release time: 2026/04/24 Publisher： original Views：

Asphalt pavement accounts for as high as 95% of the high-grade roads in China due to its superior ride comfort. However, under modern traffic conditions such as high traffic volume and heavy loads, asphalt pavements are prone to diseases like potholes, cracking, and particle shedding. Therefore, developing long-life and high-performance modified asphalt materials has become an important foundation for supporting national strategies such as building a transportation-strong country and new urbanization. As a new emerging carbon-based nanomaterial, graphene shows promising application prospects in asphalt modification.

The NEXCEL 2024 project, titled “Application and Demonstration of Hydrocarbon-based Graphene in Asphalt Mixtures,” was conducted by Wuhan University of Technology and Sun Yat-sen University. Its outcomes have been successfully applied by Hubei Road & Bridge Group Co., Ltd. in a municipal road renovation project in Ezhou, Hubei Province. (Figure 1). The on-site performance was remarkable, providing a good demonstration for the promotion of graphene materials in road engineering.

Figure 1 Demonstration of hydrocarbon-based graphene asphalt mixture in Ezhou

The hydrocarbon-based graphene used in this project has its carbon source derived from petrochemical by-products. Through solid-phase pyrolysis of these by-products, high-value graphene is produced, which not only significantly enhances their economic value and resource utilization level, but also enables the low-cost preparation of high-performance hydrocarbon-based graphene modified asphalt mixtures.

The demonstration section of the project has suffered from numerous cracks and ruts due to its long service life, posing serious safety hazards. After usingthe hydrocarbon-based graphene-modified asphalt mixtures for paving, the pavement performancesare significantly improved. Compared with conventional asphalt concrete pavements, the key performance enhancements are as follows:

High-temperature rutting resistance ≥ 80%
Low-temperature crack resistance ≥ 40%
Residual stability ratio, Freeze-thaw splitting tensile strength ratio ≥ 30%
Fatigue resistance ≥ 50%

Fumes suppression effect

In addition, conventional asphalt mixtures release large amounts of fumes during high-temperature mixing and paving, which not only affect the health of construction workers but also pollute the environment. Hydrocarbon-based graphene has a large specific surface area and porous structure, which can effectively adsorb asphalt fumes. During the paving of this test section, fume emissions are significantly reduced (Figure 2), indicating notable environmental benefits.

Figure 2 Fumes release during asphalt pavement paving

(a)(b)Traditional asphalt pavement construction; (c)(d)Hydrocarbon-based graphene modified asphalt pavement construction