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Eco-Innovative Polymer Materials for Sustainable Infrastructure Applications

A special issue of Polymers (ISSN 2073-4360). This special issue belongs to the section "Polymer Applications".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 31 May 2026 | Viewed by 795

Special Issue Editors

School of Mines, China University of Mining & Technology, Xuzhou, China
Interests: asphalt; sustainable pavement; self-healing and self-repair; performance characterization
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Guest Editor
Sustainable Pavement and Asphalt Research group, University of Antwerp, 2020 Antwerp, Belgium
Interests: bio-rejuvenation; aged bitumen; polymer modification; chemo-mechanics
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

This Special Issue focuses on the forefront applications of environmentally friendly polymer materials in infrastructure engineering, aiming to gather the latest research advances and promote the development and utilization of green and sustainable construction materials. The topics include, but are not limited to, the following: polymers and polymer composites derived from biomass or renewable resources; polymer-modified asphalt and their functional design and performance optimization in pavement construction and maintenance; polymer-modified cementitious composites with enhanced mechanical properties, durability, and crack resistance; high-performance polymer-based repair agents, adhesives, and toughening materials for civil structures, roads, bridges, and tunnels; polymer modification and nano-reinforcement strategies for improving durability, crack resistance, corrosion resistance, and service life; and life-cycle assessment, recycling, and environmental impact analysis of infrastructure materials.

Dr. Jianan Liu
Dr. Shisong Ren
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 250 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for assessment.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Polymers is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2700 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

  • polymer composites
  • modified asphalt
  • cementitious materials
  • sustainability
  • nano-reinforcement
  • durability
  • recycling
  • green construction

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Published Papers (1 paper)

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Research

18 pages, 1443 KB  
Article
Research on the Pavement Performance of Fiber-Reinforced High Modulus Asphalt Concrete
by Gaixia Chen, Tuanjie Wang and Yuquan Yao
Polymers 2026, 18(3), 365; https://doi.org/10.3390/polym18030365 - 29 Jan 2026
Viewed by 543
Abstract
Under high temperature and heavy load conditions, asphalt pavements are prone to rutting and other distress, which severely affect the service life of the road. High modulus asphalt concrete has significant advantages in addressing rutting issues in asphalt pavements. However, its low-temperature performance [...] Read more.
Under high temperature and heavy load conditions, asphalt pavements are prone to rutting and other distress, which severely affect the service life of the road. High modulus asphalt concrete has significant advantages in addressing rutting issues in asphalt pavements. However, its low-temperature performance is often poor, especially in regions with hot summers, cold winters, and large diurnal temperature variations, which limits the application of this technology. Based on this, the study introduces three types of fibers: basalt fiber, polyester fiber, and lignin fiber as reinforcing materials to improve the performance of high modulus asphalt concrete. The effects of these fibers on the pavement performance of high modulus asphalt concrete are systematically evaluated through rutting tests, low-temperature bending tests, immersion Marshall tests, freeze–thaw splitting tests, fatigue tests, and dynamic modulus tests. The test results show that as the fiber content increases, the effect of the fibers on the high-temperature, low-temperature, and fatigue performance of high modulus asphalt concrete initially improves and then decreases. The impact on water stability is not significant, while the dynamic modulus performance decreases. Fibers can significantly improve the low-temperature performance of the mixture. Among them, basalt fiber shows the greatest improvement in high-temperature and fatigue performance, while polyester fiber provides the best improvement in low-temperature performance. The improvement effect of lignin fiber is not as pronounced as that of the first two fibers. All types of fibers have an adverse effect on the dynamic modulus of the mixture. Taking all factors into consideration, the recommended fiber contents for basalt fiber, polyester fiber, and lignin fiber are 0.4%, 0.3%, and 0.3%, respectively, as these levels exhibited the best overall performance among the discrete dosages investigated in this study. Based on the experimental results, and within the selected dosage range, a performance evaluation system for fiber-reinforced high modulus asphalt concrete is established. Full article
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