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[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]