Effect of Activated Carbon on Road Performance and VOCs' Emissions Behavior of SBS Modified Asphalt Mixture

Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) have adverse effects on the environment and human health. SBS modified asphalt mixture releases a large amount of VOCs during construction under high-temperature conditions. In this study, the effect of activated carbon on the road performance and VOCs emissions behavior of SBS modified asphalt mixture was comprehensively investigated. The inhibition of VOCs in asphalt mixture was analyzed in three levels of total concentration—group concentration—component concentration by GC-MS. The results indicate that activated carbon can improve the water stability of asphalt mixtures, while it has adverse effects on high-temperature stability and low-temperature crack resistance. Activated carbon can effectively inhibit VOCs emissions from asphalt mixtures. The inhibition rate of VOCs increases with the rising content of activated carbon. The total VOCs concentration of SBS modified asphalt mixture is reduced by 46.4% with the addition of 5% activated carbon. Activated carbon can effectively suppress most of the groups and components in VOCs, but it also shows a certain degree of selectivity. Aldehydes and formaldehyde are the group and component with the highest content in VOCs that can be effectively controlled, their concentration is decreased by 51% and 62% with the addition of activated carbon. However, the concentration of some groups and components increases with the addition of 3% activated carbon, such as olefins and cyclopentane, while the emissions of these groups and components can be inhibited with the addition of 5% activated carbon. Activated carbon has a certain negative effect on the inhibition of some groups and components, such as aromatic hydrocarbons and benzene. On the whole, SBS modified asphalt mixture containing 5% activated carbon has better comprehensive performance through multi-objective optimization evaluation of environmental and technical performance, which can meet the road performance requirements and show the best VOCs suppression effect.