Journal of Microscopy · 1996 · 441 citations · 0 references
Natural SciencesMaterials EngineeringMaterials SciencePavement EngineeringPolymer ChemistryPolymer MaterialsAsphalt MaterialsAtomic Force MicroscopyPavement MaterialsPolymer CharacterizationPolymer MorphologyPolymer StructureAsphalt BinderAsphaltene AggregationAsphaltene ContentAsphaltene InteractionsAsphaltene PrecipitationAsphaltene StabilityBindersSample Preparation Method Development
SEM observation requires adequate sample preparation. The study combines AFM, SEM, and fluorescence microscopy to examine asphalt structure, enabling observation without pre‑preparation and revealing polymer‑induced structural changes. The observations reveal a network of asphaltene molecules in asphalt gel, with SEM providing higher resolution, and show that polymer addition rearranges asphaltene associations, implying polymer aggregates the asphaltene phase.
Observations made using AFM and SEM have been combined in order to study the structure of asphalts. Fluorescence microscopy was used to aid in understanding the structural changes occurring when polymer is added to the asphalts. With the atomic force microscope we are able to study the structure of the asphalts without any pre‐preparation. Despite very low resolution, our study reveal ed a network of asphaltene molecules with regard to asphalt gel. The same result is obtained by SEM observation but with a much better resolution. SEM observation, however, needs an adequate preparation method. In the presence of polymer we observed a rearrangement of the initial asphaltene association which leads to the assumption that polymer can aggregate the asphaltene phase.