Cracks are inevitable during the service life of asphalt pavement and the water at the fracture surfaces tends to cause the grouting materials to fail. Studies have shown that the catechol groups in adhesion proteins secreted by mussels can produce strong adhesion performance in the water. In this paper, the mussel-like adhesive L-Dopa Methacrylic anhydride (L-DMA) was prepared based on the concept of bionic design and used to improve the properties of asphalt. By using Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR) and Thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), the thermal stability and structural composition of L-DMA were investigated. Then, the rheological and low-temperature properties of L-DMA-modified asphalt were investigated using the dynamic shear rheological (DSR) test and bending beam rheological (BBR) test. Moreover, the modification mechanism was explored by FTIR. It was found that L-DMA can be effectively synthesized and has good thermal stability. The incorporation of L-DMA increases the composite modulus, viscosity, creep recovery rate and rutting factor of asphalt binder, resulting in an enhancement of its high-temperature performance. At a high L-DMA content of 10%, the low-temperature performance of the modified asphalt was enhanced. The modification of L-DMA to asphalt is mainly a physical process. Hydrogen bonds and conjugated systems generated by the introduction of catechol groups enhance the adhesion properties of asphalt. In general, L-DMA improves the properties of asphalt and theoretically can improve the water resistance of asphalt, which will be explored in future research.
Keywords: L-DMA; modification mechanism; modified asphalt; mussel bionic materials; rheological properties.