Ballard, DA orcid.org/0000-0002-5506-199X, Qiao, P, Cattoz, B orcid.org/0000-0003-3123-0936 et al. (7 more authors) (2020) Aggregation Behavior of E-SARA Asphaltene Fractions Studied by Small-Angle Neutron Scattering. Energy & Fuels, 34 (6). pp. 6894-6903. ISSN 0887-0624
Abstract
Using the extended-SARA method to fractionate asphaltenes based on their interfacial activity, the current study reports the first results on the estimated size and shape of interfacially active asphaltene (IAA) and remaining asphaltene (RA) nanoaggregates. These fractions have been reported to exhibit distinctly different chemical architectures that influence the size of asphaltene clusters in good and poor solvents. However, little is known about the building blocks, commonly referred to as nanoaggregates, which form these clusters and how those subtle differences in chemical architecture impact aggregation of asphaltenes. The nanoaggregate size and shape of IAA and RA was measured using small-angle neutron scattering (SANS). The characteristic length and asymptotic power-law exponent of whole asphaltenes (WAs) extracted from heavy crude oil and dispersed in deuterated toluene were 28.0 ± 0.2 Å and 2.86 ± 0.01, respectively, showing negligible variations with changing asphaltene concentration, source of asphaltenes (bitumen and heavy crude oil), and solvent aromaticity. For RA fractions, which account for 98.5 wt % of WA, the characteristic length and power-law exponent of 28.8 Å and 2.86 were comparable to that of WA but in contrast to 59.7 Å and 2.20 for IAA. A ∼100% increase in the characteristic length and reduced power-law exponent of the IAA fraction confirms that these two asphaltene subfractions form dissimilar nanoaggregate structures.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2020 American Chemical Society. This is an author produced version of an article published in Energy Fuels. Uploaded in accordance with the publisher's self-archiving policy. |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Engineering & Physical Sciences (Leeds) > School of Chemical & Process Engineering (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 12 May 2021 12:59 |
Last Modified: | 08 Jan 2025 12:56 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | American Chemical Society (ACS) |
Identification Number: | 10.1021/acs.energyfuels.0c00596 |
Related URLs: | |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:173847 |