The research team, consisting of British and Chilean scientists, discovered a method to reverse the cracking process in asphalt, which occurs when bitumen hardens. ‘In our research, we want to mimic the healing properties we see in nature,’ says Francisco Martin-Martinez, expert in Computational Chemistry at King’s College London. ‘By creating asphalt that can repair itself, roads will last longer and fewer roadworks will be needed.’
The researchers used the AI method machine learning to simulate the behaviour of bitumen, the sticky material in asphalt. This was followed by lab tests with asphalt to which plant porous materials or ‘ spores ’ have been added. These were filled with pyrolysis oil. When micro-cracks appear in the asphalt, oil is released from these spores. This seals the cracks within an hour, preventing further damage and potholes.
Dutch research
In the Netherlands, TU Delft has been pioneering research and development of self-healing asphalt for years. Similar to the approach of the British-Chilean team, TU Delft has also investigated the use of capsules filled with ‘rejuvenating agents’, based on biopolymers and oils to soften the bitumen that fills cracks when they occur. Heating added steel fibres in the asphalt via induction is another option to re-liquefy the bitumen.
See also:
- Self-healing potholes pave the way for more sustainable roads (King’s College London, 3 Februari 2025)
- Alpizar-Reyes, E., Concha, J. L., MartÃn-MartÃnez, F. J., & Norambuena-Contreras, J. (2022). Biobased Spore Microcapsules for Asphalt Self-Healing. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 14(27), 31296–31311. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.2c07301
- York, D., Vidal-Daza, I., Segura, C., Norambuena-Contreras, J., & Martin-Martinez, F. J. (2024). Data-driven representative models to accelerate scaled-up atomistic simulations of bitumen and biobased complex fluids. Digital Discovery, 3(6), 1108–1122. https://doi.org/10.1039/d3dd00245d
- Asphalt is getting ever greener (Article, Agro&Chemistry 26 September 2021)
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