Construction and Building Materials 136 (2017) 256264

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Construction and Building Materials

journal homepage: www.elsevier.com/locate/conbuildmat

Investigation on absorption performance between cement

and emulsified asphalt with UVVis spectrophotometer
Zhenjun Wang a,b,, Hongfei Wang a, Ting Zhang a, Chuang Xu a
a
School of Materials Science & Engineering, Changan University, Xian 710061, Shaanxi, PR China
b
Engineering Research Central of Pavement Materials, Ministry of Education of P.R. China, Changan University, Xian 710061, PR China

h i g h l i g h t s

UVVis spectrophotometer was adopted to investigate adsorption performance quantitatively.

Adsorption rate between cement and emulsified asphalt was obtained successfully.

Absorption process in cement emulsified asphalt binders was simulated.

Adsorption kinetic model was established to evaluate adsorption performance.

a r t i c l e i n f o a b s t r a c t

Article history: Absorption between cement and emulsified asphalt enormously influences properties of cement emulsi-
Received 31 October 2016 fied asphalt mixtures. However, it is difficult to evaluate the absorption performance both quantitatively
Received in revised form 29 December 2016 and morphologically. Therefore, ultravioletvisible (UVVis) spectrophotometer was adopted to investi-
Accepted 5 January 2017
gate the adsorption performance quantitatively and the adsorption rate was obtained successfully in this
Available online xxxx
work. In addition, a viscometer was employed to test the viscosity variations of cement and emulsified
asphalt binders. A Zeta potential analyzer was used to monitor the surface potential changes of cement
Keywords:
asphalt particles in the binders with different cement contents. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and
Cement emulsified asphalt binders
Adsorption performance
polarizing microscope (PM) was used to capture the microcosmic images of the binders morphologically.
UVVis spectrophotometer Finally, the absorption process was simulated and the adsorption kinetic model was established. The
Adsorption rate results show that the initial viscosity of the binders increases with the increase of cement content and
Adsorption kinetic model the standing time. The 800 nm wavelength is optimal for measuring absorbance between emulsified
asphalt and cement. Adsorption rate increases with the increase of cement content and the standing time.
The simulated absorption process consists of four stages, which are trigger absorption (Stage I), agglom-
eration absorption (Stage II), membrane absorption (Stage III) and stable absorption (Stage IV). The
adsorption kinetic model can be adopted to quantitatively evaluate the adsorption rate between cement
and emulsified asphalt with different cement content and standing time.
2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

1. Introduction
Cement emulsified asphalt mixtures are inorganic-organic com-
posites, which possess many advantages, such as low energy-
consumption, little pollution, easy construction, and so on [13].
Therefore, they are widely used in pavement engineering [2,4]
and railway engineering [5,6] as construction and building materi-
als. The binders in the mixtures are cement and emulsified asphalt.
When emulsified asphalt meets with cement, they can absorb each
Corresponding author at: School of Materials Science & Engineering, Changan
University, Xian 710061, Shaanxi, PR China.
E-mail address: wangzhenjun029@163.com (Z. Wang).
other and the asphalt particles can influence process of cement
hydration. So adsorption behavior and compatibility between
them are more complicated than that in plain cement paste or
asphalt binder [7]. Firstly, the process of cement hydration was
almost simultaneous with demulsification of emulsified asphalt
[8,9]. The wetting phenomenon on cement surface firstly takes
place, which leads to instantaneous hydration. Secondly, when
water exists, hydrates of some cement mineral components (trical-
cium silicate, C3S and dicalcium silicate, C2S) show negative
[10,11]; while the asphalt particles in cationic emulsified asphalt
show positive [12]. Under the action of electric charge, the asphalt
particles are very easy to adhere on cement surface, which can
result in changes of workability [13] and rheological properties

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.conbuildmat.2017.01.016
0950-0618/ 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.
 Z. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 136 (2017) 256264 257

[14,15] of the binders. The asphalt particles adsorption on surface
of the cement particles can form asphalt film, which has a negative
effect on the further hydration of the cement [8]. At the same time,
the water in the emulsified asphalt is consumed by cement hydra-
tion and the demulsification is speeded up. During the demulsifica-
tion process, the viscosity of the binders constantly changes
[6,16,17].
Properties of cement emulsified asphalt mixtures are different
from those of cement concrete and asphalt mixtures. Cement con-
crete has good mechanical performance and durability; and
asphalt mixtures have excellent toughness. However, in cement
emulsified asphalt mixtures, asphalt demulsification and cement
hydration can happen simultaneously due to the adsorption action
between cement and asphalt particles and the water coming from
asphalt demulsification [18]. Therefore, cement emulsified asphalt
mixtures have advantages of both cement concrete and asphalt
mixtures [19]. Furthermore, the current researches on demulsifica-
tion of emulsified asphalt are limited to the influencing factors and
the testing methods. The cement fineness, cement hydration, and
emulsified asphalt dosages, and so on, were investigated as influ-
encing factors of demulsification process [3,8,20]. The early hydra-
tion process, cement hydration products and the particle size
variation of the emulsified asphalt were investigated by SEM [1],
X-ray diffraction [3], conduction calorimetry [9], and so on. Those
methods can indirectly reflect the adsorption characteristics of
cement emulsified asphalt; and they are not quantitative about
adsorption characterization in the process demulsification. It has
a great significance on investigating testing methods for quantita-
tive determination of adsorption-demulsification process in
cement emulsified asphalt binders.
Therefore, the UVVis spectrophotometer was used to
quantitatively characterize the adsorption rate of the binders in
different standing time in this work. In addition, the viscosity
variations of the binders and potential changes of particle
surface of cement emulsified asphalt were studied. The
microstructures and absorption process for the binders were
analyzed and simulated morphologically. Finally, the adsorption
kinetic model was established to provide the basis for evaluating
the absorption performance between cement and emulsified
asphalt in the mixtures.
2. Materials and specimen preparation
2.1. Materials
Ordinary Portland cement was used and its properties are
shown in Table 1, which is complied with the Chinese standard
GB 175-2007 [21]. Cationic emulsified asphalt was adopted and
its properties are shown in Table 2, which can meet with the Chi-
nese specification JTG F40-2004 [22].
2.2. Specimen preparation
Emulsified asphalt with 8.0% content and cement with 2.0%,
3.0% and 4.0% content in mass, respectively, were mixed for the
binder preparation according to reference [23]. In order to satisfy
the requirements of different instruments, the cement emulsified
asphalt binders with different dilution ratios were prepared. The
dilution ratio for adsorption rate test was 1:200. The dilution ratio
for the Zeta potential test and the PM measurement was 1:50.
2.3. Experimental
2.3.1. Absorbance test
Ultravioletvisible spectrum can be generated when ultraviolet
light and visible light are absorbed by materials. The spectrum can
be used to analyze the composition and the structure of the mate-
rials. For a particular wavelength in the ultravioletvisible ranges,
the absorption degree is proportional to the components of the
materials. Therefore, the characteristics of the materials are quan-
titatively reflected by the spectrum, which changes with the wave-
length. In this work, UVVis spectrophotometer is used to evaluate
the adsorption performance of asphalt particles on cement parti-
cles. The absorbance is related with the specimen concentration.
The relation can be expressed as Eq. (1).
I0
lg A klx 1
I
where, I0 is the incident light intensity; I is the transmitted light
intensity; A is the absorbance; x is the specimen concentration; l
is the width of specimen cell; k is the absorption coefficient.
Absorbance was tested by UVVis spectrophotometer, which
worked in 200900 nm wavelength ranges. The absorbance of
emulsified asphalt at different wavelengths was measured. Then,
the absorption rate between cement and emulsified asphalt was
calculated by Eq. (2) [24]. The average result of three specimens
for each group was adopted.
10m1
Qi x1  xi 2
m2
where, Qi is the adsorption rate (mg/g); m1 is the initial mass of
emulsified asphalt (g); m2 is mass of cement (g); x1 is the asphalt
content in emulsified asphalt at initial time (%); xi is the asphalt
content in cement emulsified asphalt binders at different testing
time (%).
2.3.2. Binder viscosity test
According to the Chinese specification JTG E20-2011 [25],
cement emulsified asphalt binders were mixed to measure their

Table 1
Properties of ordinary Portland cement.

Specific surface/(m2/kg) Fineness (80 lm)/% Setting time/min Compressive strength/ Flexural strength/MPa Soundness
MPa
331 7.9 Initial Final 3 days 28 days 3 days 28 days Qualified
125 319 19.5 44.7 4.2 7.3

Table.2
Properties of emulsified asphalt.

Evaporation residue Residue Penetration depth of residue at 25 C/ Residue ductility Residue on 1.18 mm Soft point of
content/% solubility/% 0.1 mm (15 C)/cm sieve/% residue/C
61.9 98.7 79.1 76.9 0.04 58.0
258 Z. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 136 (2017) 256264
viscosity by a viscometer. The viscometer container was filled with
the cement emulsified asphalt binders to about 1020 mm below
its top to avoid the binders overflow when the spindle was put into
the container. The average result of three specimens for each group
was used. The resolution was 0.01 Pas; the rotator speed was 50 r/
min and the test was carried out at the temperature of 20.0 C.
2.3.3. Zeta potential test
Zeta potential test was carried out by a Zeta sizer, which
worked on the electrophoretic method. It applied an electric field
on the suspension and made the charged particles oscillate. The
size range of particles was 0.3 nm-100 lm. The Zeta potential
was calculated by the dynamic mobility which was detected by
the Zeta potential instrument. About 1 mL binders were poured
into the specimen cell by a pipette. The Zeta potential test of
cement emulsified asphalt binders was carried out at the temper-
ature of 20.0 C. Three specimens were prepared for each test and
the average result was adopted as the result.
2.3.4. Microstructure characterization
Demulsification process analyses were carried out with the
polarizing microscope (PM). The cement and the emulsified
asphalt were dropped on the slide glass. The magnification of PM
was 200 and the temperature was 20.0 C. In addition, after 7-
day curing ages at room with the temperature of 25.0 C, the hard-
ened binders were crudely broken into small pieces. The intention
was to produce surfaces showing exposed binders which had not
been subjected to any treatment that can change the microstruc-
tures. The specimens were coated in gold and scanning electron
microscope (SEM) was used to examine the microstructures. The
SEM resolution was 10.0 um; the test condition was in high vac-
uum and the test voltage was 5.0 kV.
3. Results and discussions
3.1. Adsorption performance and absorbance
3.1.1. Viscosity changes of binders at different standing time
The adsorption between cement and emulsified asphalt can be
reflected by the viscosity of binders. The viscosity results of cement
emulsified asphalt binders with different standing time are shown
in Table 3. It can be seen clearly that the initial viscosity increases
with the increase of cement content and the standing time. When
the cement contents are 2.0%, 3.0% and 4.0%, respectively, the vis-
cosity of the binders values at 30 min and 60 min are about 3 times
and 5 times higher than those at 0 min, respectively. When the
cement content is 2.0%, the viscosity of the binders at 90 min is
about 12 times higher than that at 0 min. However, the binders
at 90 min can lose their liquidity when the cement contents are
3.0% and 4.0%, respectively.
Furthermore, some water in the emulsified asphalt is consumed
in the process of cement hydration after cement addition. The con-
sumption of water accelerates the breaking of emulsified asphalt.
Table 3
Viscosity of cement emulsified asphalt binders.
Cement content/% Viscosity at different time (min)/(Pas)
Initial 30 60
2.0 65.35 165.75 321.82
3.0 91.85 226.32 454.62
4.0 118.42 366.42 556.72
Note: None indicates that the binders are too sticky to test at 90 min.
The water absorption of cement can change the rheological behav-
ior and the hydration performance of the binders [2628]. When
cement content is constant, the viscosity of the binders increases
with the increase of the standing time. The hydration degree of
cement particles becomes much deeper after the longer standing
time, which results in the less water in binders and the deeper
breaking of emulsified asphalt.
3.1.2. Absorbance of the emulsified asphalt
The absorbance of emulsified asphalt was obtained to quantita-
tively evaluate the absorption performance. Scanning spectra of
emulsified asphalt were tested by UVVis spectrophotometer. In
addition, the relationship between absorbance and asphalt content
was established by ultravioletvisible scanning spectra. Some
studies show that UVVis spectrophotometer is simple and accu-
rate for the determination of asphaltene content in oil specimens
[29,30]. The scanning spectra of the emulsified asphalt specimens
with different dilution ratios are shown in Fig. 1. The curve fitting
results of absorbance and the emulsion concentration at 200
900 nm wavelengths are shown in Fig. 2. And linear fitting results
of the curves are given in Table 4.
The fitting degree R2 of fitting equations at 200900 nm wave-
lengths is shown in Fig. 3. It can be seen clearly that the fitting
degree increases with the increase of wavelengths before the
800 nm. And the fitting degree decreases with the increase of
wavelengths after the 800 nm. There should exist an optimum
range of wavelengths to test the solid content of emulsified asphalt
by UVVis spectrophotometer. Some studies found that the test
results were ideal for scanning spectra from 750 nm to 800 nm
wavelengths by UVVis spectrophotometer [29,30]. This is consis-
tent with the results of this work, which indicate that 800 nm
wavelength has shown the best correlation with the fitting degree.
Therefore, the 800 nm wavelength is used to study changes of
absorption rate between cement and emulsified asphalt by UV
Vis spectrophotometer.
3.2. Changes of adsorption rate
The adsorption rates of emulsified asphalt with different
cement content and standing time are shown in Fig. 4. The results
show that the adsorption rate increases with the increase of
cement content and the standing time. But the trend of adsorption
rate curve gradually decreases. Finally, the absorption rate reaches
the peak and gradually become stable. It can be seen clearly that
adsorption rate at 30 min increases with the increase of cement
content. But the adsorption rate decreases with the increase of
cement content at 60 min, 90 min and 120 min. Furthermore,
3.5
3.0
2.5
Absorbance
2.0
1.5
1.0 1:400
1:300
1:200
0.5
1:150
90
1:100
832.81 0.0
200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900
None
None Wavelength (nm)
Fig. 1. UVVis scanning spectra of emulsified asphalt.
 Z. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 136 (2017) 256264 259

1.1 2.4
200 nm
(a) 300 nm (b)
Linear fit for 200 nm Linear fit for 300 nm
1.0 2.0
Absorbency

Absorbency
0.9 1.6

0.8 1.2
Equation y = a+b*x
Adj. R-Square 0.7123 Equation y = a+b*x
Value Standard Error Adj. R-Square 0.7921
0.7 Absorbency Intercept 0.6339 0.0769
0.8 Value Standard Error
Absorbency Slope 41.5527 12.5849 Absorbency Intercept 0.1681 0.3162
Absorbency Slope 208.5651 51.7485

0.6 0.4
1:400 1:300 1:200 1:150 1:100 1:400 1:300 1:200 1:150 1:100
Dilution ratio Dilution ratio

3.0 3.5
400 nm
Linear fit for 400 nm
(c) 500 nm
(d)
Linear fit for 500 nm
3.0
2.5
Absorbency

Absorbency
2.5
2.0
2.0

1.5
Equation y = a+b*x 1.5 Equation y = a+b*x
Adj. R-Square 0.8418 Adj.R-Square 0.8951
Value Standard Error Value Standard Error
Absorbency Intercept 0.3951 0.3087
1.0 Absorbency Intercept 0.3298 0.3489
1.0 Absorbency Slope 299.2636 50.5163
Absorbency Slope 269.4463 57.0871

1:400 1:300 1:200 1:150 1:100 1:400 1:300 1:200 1:150 1:100
Dilution multiple Dilution multiple

3.5 (e) 3.5 (f)

700 nm
600 nm
Linear fit for 700 nm
Linear fit for 600 nm
3.0 3.0
Absorbency

Absorbency

2.5 2.5

2.0 2.0
Equation y = a+b*x Equation y = a+b*
Adj. R-Square 0.9391 Adj. R-Square 0.9653
1.5 Value Standard Error
1.5 Value Standard Error
Absorbency Intercept 0.3701 0.2517 Absorbency Intercept 0.5037 0.1704
Absorbency Slope 325.8102 41.1871 Absorbency Slope 295.6711 27.8868
1.0 1.0
1:400 1:300 1:200 1:150 1:100 1:400 1:300 1:200 1:150 1:100
Dilution muitiple Dilution multiple

3.5 3.2
(g) (h)
800 nm 900 nm
3.0 2.8 Linear fit for 900 nm
Linear fit for 800 nm
Absorbency

Absorbency

2.5 2.4

2.0 2.0
Equation y = a+b*x
Equation y = a+b*x
Adj. R-Square 0.9755
1.5 Value Standard Error 1.6 Adj. R-Square 0.9435
Value Standard Error
Absorbency Intercept 0.6678 0.1242
Absorbency Intercept 0.9089 0.1627
Absorbency Slope 257.3672 20.3248
Absorbency Slope 219.1102 26.6232
1.0 1.2
1:400 1:300 1:200 1:150 1:100 1:400 1:300 1:200 1:150 1:100
Dilution multiple Dilution multiple

Fig. 2. Charts of absorbance for emulsified asphalt at different wavelengths: (a) at 200 nm (b) 300 nm, (c) 400 nm, (d) 500 nm, (e) 600 nm, (f) 700 nm, (g) 800 nm and (h)
900 nm.
260 Z. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 136 (2017) 256264

Table 4 cement and asphalt particles decreases [32], and eventually, they
The fitting results of spectra at 200900 nm wavelengths. are completely absorbed. When the standing time is constant,
Wavelengths(nm) Fitting equation Fitting degree the more cement content, the more cement particles in the bin-
200 Y = 41.5527 x + 0.6339 R2 = 0.7123 ders. Therefore, more asphalt particles can be adsorbed on the
300 Y = 208.5651 x + 0.1681 R2 = 0.7921 cement particles surface with the increase of the cement content.
400 Y = 269.4462 x + 0.3298 R2 = 0.8418 This is reason why the adsorption rate of binders with low cement
500 Y = 299.2636 x + 0.3951 R2 = 0.8951 content is less than that of binders with high content in the initial
600 Y = 325.8102 x + 0.3951 R2 = 0.9351
700 Y = 295.6711 x + 0.5037 R2 = 0.9653
stage of adsorption. However, in the late stage of adsorption, such
800 Y = 257.3672 x + 0.6678 R2 = 0.9755 as 60 min, 90 min and 120 min standing time, the adsorption rate
900 Y = 219.1102 x + 0.9089 R2 = 0.9435 shows the opposite results. That can be explained with the Eq. (2).
When the adsorption equilibrium reaches, the coefficient m1 (x1
Note: x is the concentration of emulsified asphalt.
and x2) in Eq. (2) is constant. If the cement content m2 is higher,
the adsorption rate Qi is lower.
1.00
3.3. Different absorption stages
0.95
3.3.1. Influence of cement on emulsion stability
0.90 Some cement hydration products show electron negativity and
Fitting degree

the asphalt particles in cationic emulsified asphalt possess positive

0.85 charges. Therefore, cement particles are very easy to adsorb emul-
sified asphalt particles [33]. Zeta potential test is based on charge
0.80 theory, and the stability of the suspension of cement emulsified
asphalt is evaluated by the surface charge of the particles [34]. In
0.75 this work, the Zeta potential of the cationic emulsified asphalt is
81.4 mV.
0.70
The Zeta potential of cement emulsified asphalt particles are
100 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 presented in Fig. 5. It can be seen clearly that the Zeta potential
Wavelength (nm) value decreases with the increase of the amount of cement. The
potential was 22.3 mV, 14.4 mV, 9.2 mV, respectively. After the
Fig. 3. Relation chart between fitting degree and wavelength for UV spectra. cement is added to the emulsion, the potential of emulsified
asphalt is reduced. The reason lies in that C3S and C2S of cement
has been negatively charged after hydration [11]. At this time,
1.2
there are two kinds of electric particles in the emulsion, and the
2% cement content electrical properties of these particles tend to be zero under the
1.0 3% cement content
4% cement content action of electric charges.
Adsorption rate (mg/g)

According to the principle of zeta potential test, the potential

0.8 value of binders decreases with an increase of cement content.
The surface of the cement particles can produce adsorption force
0.6 for the emulsifier [35,36]. Asphalt particles were combined with
cement particles during the process of adsorption. Finally, the
0.4 asphalt particles were coated with cement particles, which prevent
the cement from continuing to hydrate [2], which shows that the
0.2 cement and asphalt particles were combined with the effect of
charge and emulsifier. Therefore, the addition of cement was not
0.0 beneficial to the stability of the asphalt emulsion system.
30 60 90 120
Standing time (min)
3.3.2. Simulation of adsorption process
Fig. 4. Adsorption rate of emulsified asphalt with different cement contents. The process of adsorption and demulsification of cement emul-
sified asphalt consists of cement hydration and emulsified asphalt

cement can spend less time absorbing asphalt particles with the
increase of the cement content. When the cement content is
2.0%, the adsorption has been completed within 120 min. However,
when the cement contents are 3.0% and 4.0%, the adsorption is
completed in 90 min and 60 min, respectively.
Cement hydrates can evidently influence absorption between
cement and emulsified asphalt. The reason is that the negatively
charged hydrates can easy absorb the positive cationic emulsified
asphalt particles, which can promote the absorption process [31].
On the other hand, emulsified asphalt particles can be adsorbed
to the surface of cement particles and asphalt film is formed [8],
which hinders further hydration of cement. The absorption ability
of cement particles can gradually decrease due to the covering
effect of asphalt film. In addition, the emulsified asphalt particles
are gradually reduced with the adsorption between asphalt parti-
cles and cement particles. The interaction probability between Fig. 5. Zeta potentials of the binders with different cement contents.
 Z. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 136 (2017) 256264 261

demulsification [8,9]. The demulsification process of emulsified
asphalt was agglomeration and adhesion process of asphalt parti-
cles. Therefore, the process of adsorption and demulsification can
be characterized by the changes of cement emulsified asphalt par-
ticles. The absorption process can be divided into four periods,
namely, the trigger absorption (Stage I), the agglomeration absorp-
tion (Stage II), the membrane absorption (Stage III) and the stable
absorption (Stage IV).
Simulated diagram for the adsorption process between cement
and emulsified asphalt is shown in Fig. 6. On Stage I, the cement is
added into the emulsified asphalt emulsion with uniformly dis-
tributed particles. The cement particles and the asphalt particles
can absorb each other. Then, some asphalt particles are gathered
together and a few asphalt particles are combined with the cement
particles, which lead to the trigger absorption. On Stage II, the
gathering phenomenon of cement and asphalt particles begins to
grow, which indicates the more absorption. The cement particles
and the asphalt particles gather and the agglomeration absorption
happens. On Stage III, the particles agglomeration continues to be
evident. A large number of asphalt particles agglomerate and com-
bine and asphalt film is formed, which can absorb and cover the
cement particles. On Stage IV, the growth of particles can be slo-
wed down; and the asphalt film blends into one another and covers
on the surface of the cement particles, which indicates the absorp-
tion is approaching to be stable. The adsorption process between
cement and emulsified asphalt comes to be very slow and the bin-
ders begin to be hardening.
The microstructure of hardened cement emulsified asphalt bin-
der was shown in Fig. 7. It can be seen obviously from the SEM pic-
ture that there exist amounts of cement hydration products. In

Fig. 6. Simulated diagram for the adsorption process.

262 Z. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 136 (2017) 256264

3.4. Adsorption kinetic model

An adsorption kinetic model was established based on the influ-

ences of the cement content and the standing time on the adsorp-
tion rate. The equation was established as Eq. (3) [37].

1
Qt 3
A Bent

where, Qt is the adsorption rate; t is the standing time (h); n is a nat-

Fig. 7. The SEM picture of cement emulsified asphalt binders.
addition, the hydration products and the asphalt were closely
intertwined. Furthermore, some cement hydration products were
also wrapped by the asphalt. The absorption process can go to
the end gradually and the hydrates and the asphalt can put for-
ward binding ability to cement emulsified asphalt binders. There-
fore, the cement hydrates play an important role in enhancing
the mechanical strength of the hardened cement emulsified
asphalt binders. Furthermore, the enhancement role can be more
pronounced with the increase of curing ages due to the further
hydration of cement mineral components [2].
ural number; A and B are parameters changing with the cement
content.
The value of n has a significant influence on the adsorption
rate results. The time parameter is 4 (30 min, 60 min, 90 min
and 120 min) in this work, which can only be used to define
approximately the cubic function of et. Therefore, the value of
n should be equal to 3 and there exists (et)3 (simplified as
e3t). When cement content was 2.0%, the adsorption rate at
120 min was shown in Fig. 4. The relationship between adsorption
rate 1/Qt and e3t was given by commercial software. At the same
time, the linear fitting results of adsorption rate 1/Qt and e3t were
shown in Fig. 8. Similarly, the relationship between adsorption rate
1/Qt and e3t could be obtained when the cement content was 3.0%
and 4.0%. The results are shown in Fig. 8 and the parameters
obtained from the fitting curves in Fig. 8 were shown in Table 5.
When the cement content (m) is used as independent variable
and A and B are used as dependent variables, respectively, the rela-
tion charts between cement content (m) and A or B are shown in
Figs. 9 and 10. The fitting equations are as follows: A = 0.8489

5.5
8
2.0% cement content 5.0 3.0% cement content
7 Linear fit for 2.0% cement content (a) Linear fit for 3.0% cement content (b)
4.5
6
4.0
5
3.5
1/Qt

1/Qt

4
3.0
3 2.5
Equation y = a+b*x Equation y = a + b*
2 Adj. R-Square 0.9681 2.0 Adj. R-Squar 0.9797 5
Value Standard Error
Value Standard Error
1 1/Qt Intercept 0.3893 0.3793 1.5 1/Qt Intercept 1.0803 0.1637
1 /Q t Slope 31.7806 3.3138
1Qt Slope 17.2917 1.4302
0 1.0
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25 0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
e-3t e-3t

3.2
4.0% cement content
3.0 Linear fit for 4.0% cement content (c)
2.8

2.6
1/Qt

2.4

2.2

Equation y = a+b*x
2.0 Adj. R-Square 0.9617
Value Standard Error
1.8 1/Qt Intercept 1.6485 0.0838
1/Qt Slope 6.3969 0.7318

1.6
0.00 0.05 0.10 0.15 0.20 0.25
e-3t

Fig. 8. Relation charts of adsorption rate and standing time parameter for the binders with different cement contents: (a) 2.0%; (b) 3.0% and (c) 4.0%.
 Z. Wang et al. / Construction and Building Materials 136 (2017) 256264 263

Table 5 are consistent with the conclusions about adsorption rate of emul-
The parameters and equations for fitting curves. sified asphalt with different cement content at different standing
Cement Parameters A Parameters B Equation of fitting curve time.
content/%
2.0 0.3893 31.7806 Qt = 1/(0.3893 + 31.7806 e3t) 4. Conclusions
3.0 1.0803 17.2917 Qt = 1/(1.0803 + 17.2917 e3t)
4.0 1.6480 6.3960 Qt = 1/(1.6480 + 6.3960 e3t)
This is a preliminary study on the adsorption performance
between cement and emulsified asphalt both quantitatively and
morphologically. However, there are the following results being
worth noticing.

a) The initial viscosity of cement emulsified asphalt binders

increases with the increase of cement content and the stand-
ing time. However, the binders after 90 min standing time
can lost their liquidity when the cement contents are 3.0%
and 4.0%, respectively. The more cement contents and the
longer standing time, the higher viscosity values of the
binders.
b) Application of UVVis spectrophotometer is simple and
effective in the determination of asphaltene content. The
relationship between absorbance and asphalt content in
the emulsified asphalt is established by ultravioletvisible
scanning spectra. The 800 nm wavelength is optimal for
measuring absorbance between the emulsified asphalt and
the cement on account of fitting degree of different fitting
equations at different wavelengths.
c) The adsorption rate increases with the increase of cement
Fig. 9. Relation chart between coefficient A and cement contents. content and the standing time. However, the trend of
adsorption rate curve gradually decreases. Finally, the
absorption rate can reach the peak and gradually become
stable. These findings enlighten that the adsorption rate is
evidently influenced by the cement content and the standing
time.
d) Surface potential values of the cement asphalt particles
decrease with the increase of the cement content. The
absorption process can be simulated as four stages morpho-
logically, which are trigger absorption (Stage I), agglomera-
tion absorption (Stage II), membrane absorption (Stage III)
and stable absorption (Stage IV).
e) An adsorption kinetic model is established based on the
influences of cement content and standing time on the
adsorption rate, which can be adopted to quantitatively
evaluate the adsorption performance between cement and
emulsified asphalt accounting for different cement content
and standing time.

Fig. 10. Relation chart between coefficient B and cement contents.

Acknowledgements
+ 0.6294 m and B = 56.566312.6923 m. Then, the variables of A
The authors acknowledge financial supports provided by the
and B are adopted in the Eq. (3) and the adsorption kinetics
Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities of
equation for cement emulsified asphalt binders can be obtained
China (Nos. 310831153504 and 310831163113) and National
as Eq. (4).
Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 51508030). The
1 authors would like to thank the reviewers for their comments
Qt 4
0:8489 0:6294 m 56:5663  12:6923 me3t and suggestions.

where, t is the standing time (h); m is the cement mass (g); Qt is the
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adsorption rate can finish changing. Furthermore, it is also worth
noting that the absorption rate increases with the increase of
cement content when the standing time is approaching to zero.
However, it is opposite when the standing time is very long. These
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