Bitumen is a significant component used in road construction. Traditionally, it is subjected to air-blowing processes at high temperatures (220–260 °C) to enhance its viscosity, rigidity, and oxidation characteristics. However, such approaches are often energy-consuming and result in extensive environmental issues, so more efficient and environmentally friendly techniques are needed. This review evaluates the emerging novel pathways for treating bitumen, with a particular focus on the role of ozone in the air-blowing process. By examining present studies, this review emphasizes the incorporation of ozone as an oxidizing agent to address the current challenges of long process times and high temperatures in the activation process and comprehensively demonstrates the enhancement of bitumen’s mechanical properties through ozone treatment. It also highlights the minimization of toxic emissions this achieves, especially highlighting the crucial role of ozone in improving the characteristics of bitumen in relation to the global trend toward making civil construction projects more environmentally friendly. The main aim of this review is to contribute to the development of new ideas in the field of bitumen modification and to encourage further advances in road construction from the standpoint of improving efficiency and minimizing environmental impacts.

One of the urgent problems of improving the quality of road surfaces is to improve the properties of bitumen used as binders. For this purpose, various modifiers are used, which are mainly obtained synthetically. Modification of bitumen with natural raw materials is favorable from an economic and...

The modification of road bitumen using micro-sized carbonaceous materials offers a promising route to enhance pavement performance; however, the influence of microdispersed coke derived from coal and petroleum sources has not been sufficiently clarified. In this study, coal and petroleum coke from Pavlodar Petrochemical Plant LLC (Pavlodar, Kazakhstan) were mechanochemically activated and used as the modifiers for BND 100/130 bitumen, produced by Asphaltbeton 1 LLC (Almaty, Kazakhstan). X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy were used to determine the structure and morphology of the resulting coke powders. Standard tests and the Superpave Multiple Stress Creep and Recovery (MSCR) methodology were used to determine the physico-mechanical and rheological properties of the modified binders. Microdispersed granular coke powders produced after mechanochemical activation had a minimum average particle diameter of 8.28 µm (petroleum coke) and 16.64 µm (coal coke), and were mainly an amorphous carbon phase with traces of graphite. Addition of 1 wt.% microdispersed coke resulted in better performance of binder and an enhancement in grades of BND 100/130 to BND 70/100, in line with ST RK 1373-2013. MSCR testing showed that Jnr_3.2 is between 2.0–3.0 kPa⁻¹, which is in the S category of AASHTO M 332-20. This study showed how micro-sized coal and petroleum coke can be effectively used as a high-carbon modifier in bitumen, which reflects the possibility of their practical use in asphalt pavements that are subjected to normal traffic conditions.

Polymer modifiers and carbon-based materials have been widely proposed as potential asphalt additives to improve performance. However, limited studies have systematically compared micro- and nanocoke from different sources in combination with SBS and Elvaloy polymers or linked binder rheology with mixture performance. To address this gap, this study investigated the effects of micro- and nanodispersed petroleum and coal coke combined with SBS and Elvaloy polymers on the rheological behavior of asphalt binders and the performance of asphalt concrete mixtures. Rheological properties were evaluated by dynamic shear rheometer (DSR) testing, and asphalt concrete mixtures were tested for compressive strength and crack resistance. The modified systems were successfully used to obtain commercial polymer-modified bitumen grades: BMP 70/100, BMP 50/70 and BMP 35/50. With 1 wt.% micro coal coke and 0.1 wt.% SBS modification, a softening point of 73.7 °C and a penetration of 22.3 × 0.1 mm was observed. Micro coal coke–SBS system showed the highest compressive strength at 20 °C (3.29 MPa), while the largest crack resistance (4.39 MPa) and the best high-temperature mixture strength (0.90 MPa at 50 °C) were obtained when 0.5 wt.% nanocoke and 0.5 wt.% Elvaloy are used. These findings demonstrate that hybrid coke/polymer modification is an effective approach for enhancing asphalt performance, with micro coal coke–SBS systems providing the highest stiffness and rutting resistance, while nanocoke–Elvaloy systems delivered superior crack resistance and overall performance balance.

This paper considers the influence of used vegetable oil (UVO) and 10W-40 waste motor oil (WMO) used as agents for restoring the physical and mechanical properties of aged BND 100/130 bitumen. The aging process was simulated in a Rolling Thin-Film Oven (RTFO) for short-term aging (85 min) and long-term aging (225 min). The functional groups in the rejuvenating agents and modified samples were determined using Fourier Transform Infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The effect of the rejuvenating agents was confirmed by determining the physical and mechanical properties of bitumen before and after aging (softening point, penetration depth, elongation, brittleness temperature, and flash point). With an increase in the mass fraction of rejuvenating additives, a decrease in the softening point of the samples and an increase in the needle penetration depth and elongation values were observed. This confirms their effectiveness as softeners, softening the oxidized and aged structure of old bitumen. The optimal amount of additives for short-term-aged bitumen was 3 wt.%, and for long-term-aged bitumen samples, 9–12 wt.%. The results of Multiple Stress Creep Recovery (MSCR) and Atomic Force Microscopy (AFM) studies showed that the effectiveness of the rejuvenating agents depends on the degree of bitumen aging and their concentration. An analysis of FTIR spectroscopy curves for bitumens with added rejuvenating agents shows that the rejuvenating agents act as physical plasticizers, without chemical reactions that form new covalent bonds.