Studies of Athabasca asphaltene Langmuir films at air-water interface

J Colloid Interface Sci. 2003 Aug 1;264(1):128-40. doi: 10.1016/s0021-9797(03)00355-2.

Abstract

Asphaltenes are present in heavy oils and bitumen. They are a mixture of hydrocarbons having complex structures of polyaromatic rings and short side chains. In general, the high-molecular-weight asphaltene is the most aromatic fraction with the highest number of side chains and the low-molecular-weight asphaltene contains the lowest number of side chains, while the number of side chains of the whole asphaltene fraction lies in between. In this study, asphaltenes were extracted and/or fractionated from Athabasca oil sand bitumen. Subfractions of high and low molecular weight and the whole asphaltenes were characterized using a Langmuir trough and complementary techniques such as VPO, FTIR, AFM, and contact angle measurements. At an air-water interface, amphiphilic asphaltene molecules can form a monolayer. Various fractions (high, low, and whole) of the asphaltene molecules behave similarly at the air-water interface, characterized by close resemblance of their surface pressure-area, hysteresis, and relaxation isotherms. The high-molecular-weight asphaltene is the most expanded fraction, while the low-molecular-weight asphaltene fraction is the most condensed, with the whole asphaltene lying in between. At the air-water interface a monolayer of the low-molecular-weight asphaltene relaxes at a faster rate than one of the high-molecular-weight asphaltene.

Publication types

  • Comparative Study

MeSH terms

  • Air
  • Alberta
  • Hydrocarbons, Aromatic / chemistry*
  • Microscopy, Atomic Force
  • Petroleum
  • Spectroscopy, Fourier Transform Infrared
  • Surface Properties
  • Water

Substances

  • Hydrocarbons, Aromatic
  • Petroleum
  • Water