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During the aging process, the desulfurization and degradation process of crumb rubber modified asphalt binders (CRMA) consistently occurs. In this paper, a toluene insoluble test, an electrochemical titration method, viscosity, FTIR and GPC were developed to determine the effective crumb rubber content of CRMA after exposure to various aging conditions. Centering on efficiency and accuracy, these five methods were compared with the Pearson coefficient method. The results show that when the degree of aging was severe, the desulfurization and degradation of rubber were aggravated, causing the C C bond in the rubber to break and an increase in the large molecular weight of the asphalt binder. The effective rubber content in the aged CRMA was 7.7–14.2% less than the unaged CRMA. At the same time, the correlation coefficients among the five methods were all above 0.90, but the electrochemical titration and FTIR had priority over the other methods. • Aging will accelerate the degradation of rubber in modified asphalt binder. • The effective rubber content using electrochemical titration and FTIR are quantitative evaluated. • GPC and mass methods have certain man-made errors. • The Pearson correlation coefficients of methods are all over 0.9. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The utilization of processed waste materials in road construction is of utmost significance from the environmental and economic viewpoints. In this paper, waste cooking oil (WCO) and ground tire rubber (GTR) were applied to modify the asphalt binder. Based on the optimal content of both modifiers, sixteen asphalt samples with different combinations of the two wastes were designed. Relevant tests including basic properties along with rheological behavior and chemical characterization were carried out on the modified asphalt. The results indicated that the modified asphalt with 20 wt % GTR and 2.5 wt %-5 wt. % WCO exhibited satisfactory high temperature resistance and low temperature rheological properties. The Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic investigation revealed that the presence of GTR increased the concentration of styrene and butadiene while the addition of WCO introduced fatty acids and esters to modified asphalt. Overall, the road performance studies demonstrate that modified asphalt mixture with 5 wt % WCO and 20 wt % GTR displayed a markedly improved anti-rutting properties, water stability and superior low-temperature performance compared to normal asphalt mixture. • The molecular structures of WTO/GTR-modified asphalt were analyzed. • Asphalt modified with an appropriate amount of GTR and WCO exhibited optimum properties. • GTR increased the concentration of functional groups in modified asphalt binder. • WCO introduced fatty acids and esters to modified asphalt binder. • WTO/GTR-modified asphalt mixtures showed a promising application in road industry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]