Asphalt Modified with Nonmetals Separated from Pulverized Waste Printed Circuit Boards

Nonmetals separated from pulverized waste printed circuit boards (PCBs) were reused as a new modifier to improve the performance of asphalt. The classical and rheological properties of unmodified asphalt and non-metal-modified asphalt (NMA) were determined. Specifically, the influence of nonmetals content and particle size on these properties has been studied. When the nonmetals content was 25 wt% and the particle size group was 0.07-0.09 mm, the NMA had a viscosity of 1225 cP at 135 degrees C, a penetration of 53.7 dmm at 15 degrees C, a ring and ball softening point of 54 degrees C, a ductility of 43.5 cm at 15 degrees C, a G*/sin delta of 3995.27 Pa at 60 degrees C, and an upper limit temperature (G*/sin delta = 1 kPa) of 69.4 degrees C, all of which showed that the high temperature performance of asphalt was improved significantly. Therefore, this study gives a fundamental understanding of NMA and represents a novel attempt to deal with the fast increasing quantities of nonmetals from waste PCBs, which is significant from an environmental and economic standpoint.