Effective thermal conduction modification in asphalt binders is beneficial to reducing pavement surface temperature and relieving the urban heat island (UHI) effect in the utilization of solar harvesting and snow melting pavements. This study investigated the performance of two nanometer-sized modifiers, graphene (Gr) and carbon nanotubes (CNTs), on enhancing the thermal, physical and rheological properties of asphalt binders. Measurements depending on a transient plant source method proved that both Gr and CNTs linearly increased the thermal conductivity and thermal diffusivity of asphalt binders, and while 5% Gr by volume of matrix asphalt contributed to 300% increments, 5% CNTs increased the two parameters of asphalt binders by nearly 72% at 20 °C. Meanwhile, a series of empirical and rheological properties experiments were conducted. The results demonstrated the temperature susceptibility reduction and high-temperature properties promotion of asphalt binders by adding Gr or CNTs. The variation trends in the anti-cracking properties of asphalt binders modified by Gr and CNTs with the modifier content differed at low temperatures, which may be due to the unique nature of Gr. In conclusion, Gr, whose optimal content is 3% by volume of matrix asphalt, provides superior application potential for solar harvesting and snow melting pavements in comparison to CNTs due to its comprehensive contributions to thermal properties, construction feasibility, high-temperature performance and low-temperature performance of asphalt binders.

Bitumen emits a large amount of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) during the production and construction of asphalt mixture, which can cause both environmental hazards and health risks. In this study, a setup was designed to collect the VOCs released by base and crumb rubber-modified bitumen (CRMB) binders and their composition was characterized by thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS). Next, organic montmorillonite (Mt) nanoclay was added into CRMB binder and its inhibiting effect on the VOCs emission of the binder was investigated. Finally, the VOCs emission models for the CRMB and Mt-modified CRMB (Mt-CRMB) binders were established according to reasonable assumptions. The results indicated that the VOCs emission of CRMB binder was 3.2 times larger than that of the base binder. Due to its intercalated structure, the nanoclay can reduce the VOCs emission of CRMB binder by 30.6%. Especially, its inhibition effects on alkanes, olefins, and aromatic hydrocarbons were more significant. After finite element verification, the established model based on the Fick’s second law can describe the emission behavior of CRMB and Mt-CRMB binders well. Overall, the Mt nanoclay can be used as an effective modifier to inhibit the VOCs emission of CRMB binder.