THERMOREVERSIBLY CROSS-LINKED GRAFT POLYMERS

A graft polymer PG includes a polymer backbone P and at least one side graft G linked to the polymer backbone, the graft G having the general formula (1): in which R1 and R2 represent, separately from one another, straight or branched, unsaturated or saturated hydrocarbon groups, such that the total number of carbon atoms in groups R1 and R2 is between 2 and 110; X represents an amide, amino-acid, urea or urethane function, the graft G being linked to the polymer backbone P via the sulphur atom. The graft polymer PG is a polymer that allows thermoreversible cross-linking and can be used in many fields such as coatings, paints, thermoplastics, adhesives, lubricants, fuels, inks, cements, construction materials, rubbers and bitumens. The graft polymer PG can be used in particular for thermoreversibly cross-linking bitumen/polymer compositions and thus for reducing coating, spreading and/or compaction temperatures during the production of bituminous coated materials.