Using Activated Carbon to Reduce the Volatile Organic Compounds from Bituminous Materials

The objective of this research is to characterize the reduction of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) from bituminous materials resulted from activated carbon. A gas chromatography-mass spectrometer (GC-MS) was used to separate VOC components, and ultraviolet-visible spectrophotometry (UV-Vis) was conducted to quantify the amount of VOCs. Results indicated that activated carbon had an excellent suppression effect on VOCs’ emission process. Adding activated carbon to the bitumen binder did not change its chemical compounds, but did result in a significant reduction of VOCs. The weight of VOCs from the bitumen binder reduced by around 30% when it was modified with activated carbon. Half of VOC emissions can be reduced by introducing activated carbon into styrene-butadiene-styrene (SBS)-modified bitumen. A scanning electron microscope (SEM) showed the high porosity and large internal surface area in the active carbon, resulting in lower VOC emissions when it was introduced into bituminous materials.