Molecular investigations on the interactions of graphene, crude oil fractions and mineral aggregates at low, medium and high temperatures

Performance of the nanoparticle-modified asphalt binder is greatly influenced by adhesion properties between asphalt binder and nanoparticle. In this work, the adhesion properties of crude oil fractions (e.g., Saturate, Asphaltene, Resin and Aromatic components of asphalt binder), graphene and mineral aggregates (silicon dioxide) at various temperatures are investigated through molecular dynamic simulation and REAXFF force field. The results from SARA-graphene interface demonstrations that aromatic and asphaltene have 30% higher adhesion properties than saturate and resin. Also, while using graphene is valuable for the adhesion properties of the binder, it has no significant advantage over binder in binder-aggregate interactions.