The amorphous and crystalline phases in asphalt have been identified and studied using lowtemperature solid-state carbon-13 CP/MAS NMR and DSC techniques. The NMR mass percent of the crystalline methylene carbons was shown to correlate linearly with the mass percent of crystalline wax in asphalts measured using DSC. While the internal methylene carbon content of long-chain alkanes in the crystalline phase in the asphalts varied, the internal methylene carbon content of the long-chain alkanes in the amorphous phase remained relatively constant. The NMR crystalline methylene carbon content was plotted against a low-temperature cracking parameter, the fracture temperature of an asphalt. It was found that 1% or less of aliphatic carbons in the crystalline phase has little effect on the fracture temperature. For these asphalts, the fracture temperature depends mainly on the initial amount of mobile aliphatic carbons in the amorphous phase at 23°C. For asphalts containing 1% or more of crystalline aliphatic carbons, the fracture temperature increases with increasing crystalline methylene carbon content.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.