Face masks recycling with the use of radiation technologies

Based on the results of the 1st and the 2nd project year on incorporation of irradiated SFM (PP) in bitumen which did not show satisfactory properties for polymer modified bitumen according to the HRN EN 14023:2010 standard, as well as based on the results of the 2nd year on the usability of irradiated SFM (PP) in the production of stone mastic asphalt as an additive instead of cellulose fibers in order to reduce the bitumen binder leakage in the production of bituminous mixtures, were the binder drainage test according to the standard HRN EN 12697-18:2017 did not improve, but on the contrary, the results were not satisfactory, in the 3rd year a new experimental direction was pursued.
Experiments in the 3rd year were studied in parallel in two directions:
1. Investigation of the effect of incorporation of irradiated and milled SFM (PP) on two key properties of asphalt samples: a) water sensitivity, and b) resistance to permanent deformation (rutting).
2. The impact of the dose, dose rate, hence type of irradiation (gamma vs. e-beam), and post-irradiation effect on physico-chemical properties of SFM (PP) was investigated.