British researchers have developed self-healing asphalt from biomass waste using Google Cloud’s AI technologies to build more sustainable, environmentally friendly, and safer roads.
The United Kingdom is also struggling with the problem, and researchers from King’s College London and Swansea University and scientists from Chile got to work on it.
They developed a self-healing asphalt made from biomass waste. It repairs cracks automatically, eliminating or reducing the need for manual periodic maintenance. The process mimics how trees and some animals repair themselves, and this asphalt fixes a microcrack in less than an hour thanks to natural microcapsules filled with waste-based repair agents.
New data model
To make their discovery, the research team used machine learning to help investigate organic molecules in complex fluids like bitumen. Using a new data model, they accelerated atomistic simulations, helping to better understand oxidation and cracking in bitumen, a petroleum byproduct base material for asphalt.
Using Google Cloud, they developed tools to recognize chemical properties and create virtual molecules specifically designed for applications like self-healing asphalt.
Inspired by
‘Self-healing asphalt offers huge benefits for improving infrastructure and sustainability worldwide,’ says Francisco Martin-Martinez, Computational Chemist at King’s College.
‘For example, this innovation fits perfectly with many countries’ emissions targets and can reduce the cost of road maintenance. This asphalt reduces the need for repairs and extends the life of roads, providing an environmentally friendly and affordable solution to road surface damage.’