Evaluation of Chicken Feather and Styrene-Butadiene/Chicken Feather Composites as Modifier for Asphalts Binder

In the present work, the evaluation of chicken feather particles (CFP) and styrene-butadiene/chicken feather (SBS-CF) composites as modifiers for asphalt binder is presented. It is well known that elastomers are the best asphalt modifiers, because their thermoplastic behavior assists asphalts in improving the range of their mechanical properties at both low and high temperatures. Nowadays, the use of natural products and byproducts as fillers for polymer matrices has been a matter of research, and the field of asphalt modification is not the exception. Chicken feather particles (CFP) is a waste material whose main component is keratin, which offers remarkable properties. In the present work, CFP was used as a filler of a styrene-butadiene rubber matrix (SBS) with radial structure, to obtain a composite intended as an asphalt modifier. Besides, raw CFP was also tested as an asphalt modifier. Physical, thermal and rheological properties of the modified asphalts were evaluated in order to determine their degree of modification with respect to the original asphalt. The results show that the addition of raw CFP improves some physical properties as penetration and decreases the phase separation; furthermore, the asphalt modified with CFP displayed similar rheological properties to those shown by the asphalt modified with SBS, while some other properties resulted in being even better, like the phase separation, with the advantage that the CFP comes from a natural waste product.