Investigation of structural features of asphaltenes used for carbon materials synthesis by arc plasma treatment

This study presents analysis of asphaltenes isolated from two crude oils: naphthenic-aromatic biodegraded oil and paraffin-naphthenic oil, which have been used as precursors for carbon materials synthesis. The aim of this study is to investigate the interrelationship between the initial structure of asphaltene and the properties of carbon materials. Based on number of spectroscopic and other data, it can be found out that the asphaltenes from napthenic-aromatic biodegraded oil contain less paraffin and more cyclic fragments (aromatic and aliphatic), that are larger and more densely stacked. The asphaltenes of paraffin-naphthenic oil contain a larger number of labile bonds and heteroatoms. Both the asphaltenes contain sulfur enclosed in thiophene and sulfide fragments, nitrogen and oxygen, which are incorporated in different units with different thermal stability. Carbon materials are obtained from both asphaltenes via plasma of an electric arc discharge. The asphaltenes undergo graphitization as a result of plasma treatment, the general trend is an elimination of functional groups and N, S, O. The yields of the carbon materials are almost equal for two studied asphaltenes, giving graphite-like materials as the major product in both cases. The carbon material obtained from the napthenic-aromatic asphaltenes is less thermally stable, the yield of nano-structures and nanofibers are higher compared to the asphaltenes from paraffinic oil, with trace metals remaining during the synthesis process. The carbon material from paraffin-naphthenic oil is amorphous with low heteroatoms content.