Urban Pavement Can Be both Durable and Beautiful

Road construction is one of the largest change brought by  urban development. However, urban roads often in black asphalt or offwhite cement, monotonous and unattractive. But can the pavement be colorful and can it be well decorated? In fact, this dream has already come true. In many cities around the world, colored pavements have already become beautiful landscapes.

But the colored anti-skid pavement is not made simply by merely adding pigments to the pavement materials. We can easily find the benefits of colored anti-skid pavement. Besides guiding traffic and separating lanes, it also has an important function – skid resistance.

The coating of a colored anti-skid pavement system forms a raised surface layer which is 3-5 mm above the original pavement. It increases surface texture structure depth and anti-skid property of the ordinary pavement and is especially suitable for cars and buses. In addition, buses will be slightly vibrated when passing through the antiskid pavement, which can even remind drivers to slow down, thus reducing accidents.

The structure of the colored anti-skid pavement has many advantages. Taking a closer look at this. An additional layer is added to the original pavement, which is the solution. This cover layer is composed of resin, curing agents and colored anti-skid aggregate, such as ceramic particles or rubble. The colored anti-skid pavement is subject to long-term exposure to outdoor environment, thermal cycling in four seasons and frequent traffic loading, which requires high performance pavement materials.

Currently, the commonly used base materials are thermosetting resins, such as epoxy resin, acrylate and polyurethane. Among them, the modified epoxy resin system has good mechanical properties such as high strengths, high elongation and low modulus, significantly reducing the risk of cracking and delamination. Meanwhile, it boasts good water, corrosion and aging resistance, and enables the pavement to maintain excellent flexibility and adhesion for long-term service. As a result, modified epoxy system is most preferred material for colored anti-skid pavement.

Epoxy resin as base material should be used in combination with superior curing agents. Evonik has specially designed polyamine modified curing agents, i.e. Ancamide® 2766 and Ancamide® 2866 for epoxy colored anti-skid pavements. With introduction of flexible molecular segments, curing network has increased elongation and lower modulus, that can meet stringent requirements of outdoor colored anti-skid pavement on adhesive materials, and making the pavement long-lasting.

Crosslinkers - Creating Marketable and Intelligent Solutions

Mechanical strength, durability, chemical resistance and excellent color stability and adhesion properties – Evonik´s business line Crosslinkers offers tailor-made solutions for customers all over the world. As a raw material supplier, we have a profound understanding of the needs of our customers and their unique markets. Our range of products and expertise generates added value in a number of areas: from coatings and adhesives to civil engineering, high-performance elastomers and composites.

Ancamide® for epoxy colored anti-skid pavement.