Research on the thermal oxygen aging mechanism of the composite curing system epoxy asphalt with different curing agent proportions on the molecular scale

Abstract

To study the influence of the cross‐linking network on the thermal oxygen aging performance of the epoxy asphalt, the laser copolymerization microscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy and element analysis tests were used to characterize the changes in chemical components of epoxy asphalt with composite curing system during thermal oxygen aging. According to the changes in chemical components, the epoxy asphalt molecular models were constructed. The diffusion behavior of oxygen atoms was analyzed, the aging degree was determined. Moreover, the Tg and radial distribution function were calculated to determine the effect of aging on the low‐temperature performance and component distribution of epoxy asphalt. The results show that a proper proportion of curing agent helped to uniform distribution of the asphalt phase. The rise in anhydride curing agent content increased the density of crosslinking network, limited the diffusion of oxygen atoms, and contributed to the resistance of epoxy asphalt chemical components to thermal oxygen aging. However, the high proportion of anhydride aggravated the oxidation reaction of the asphalt phase due to the uneven coating of the asphalt phase. After thermal oxygen aging, the distribution of asphaltene and epoxy resin phase showed a concomitant phenomenon due to polarity adsorption.