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• Epoxidized soybean oil (ESO) is introduced to prepare ESO modified cold-mixed epoxy asphalt (CEA-ESO) • Increasing ESO content will increase the compatibility of epoxy resin and asphalt. • Increasing ESO content will increase the elongation at break of cured CEA-ESO. Cold-mixed epoxy asphalt (CEA) has been used for paving steel bridges and high-grade roads because of its properties superiority and environmental protection. In order to obtain CEA with excellent performance, it is a significant mean to improve the compatibility between asphalt and epoxy resin (ER) by introducing epoxidized soybean oil (ESO). The viscosity and glass transition temperature (T g) decrease, and the asphalt dispersed more uniformly in the ER with increasing ESO concentration. Based on the dynamic mechanical analysis, the CEA-ESO30 shows only one T g and excellent compatibility between asphalt and ER. The elongation at break and storage modulus of CEA-ESO was higher than CEA, indicating that the flexible ESO molecular chain in the curing networks might improve the stiffness of CEA-ESO. The FTIR spectra exhibited that the ESO reacted with the curing agent to form 3D networks with ER, which may result in good compatibility between asphalt and ER. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Biodiesel is recommended to be preferentially adopted as an asphalt solvent. • Asphalt solvents with high boiling points and moderate solubility are recommended. • Asphalt solvents should ensure CEA form a "sea-island" network. • Most asphalt solvents were preserved in the cross-linked network. Cold-mixed epoxy asphalt (CEA) is mixed and cured at room temperature, requiring dissolving asphalt before preparation. It is essential to choose suitable asphalt solvents to prepare CEA with desirable performances. This paper prepared CEAs with five kinds of asphalt solvents, including diesel, biodiesel, 1,2-dichloropropane, trichloroethylene, and solvent naphtha. The rheological properties of the CEA were studied by Brookfield viscometry and bending beam rheometry, then tensile tests and dynamic mechanical analysis were performed to study the mechanical properties. The morphology of the tensile fracture profiles of CEA was observed through scanning electron microscopy. Recommendations for selecting asphalt solvents are as follows: (1) the solubility of the solvent should ensure the formation of sea-island structure in CEA; (2) the solvent should have a high boiling point and moderate solubility to ensure CEA desirable antiaging ability. As a result, biodiesel is recommended and preferentially adopted. According to the ion chromatography, the volatilization of solvents mainly occurred within 48 h during CEA curing, and nearly 60 % of solvents were "sealed" in the CEA, participating in the formation of the cross-linking network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]