IMAGING OF PETROLEUM ASPHALTENES USING SCANNING-TUNNELING-MICROSCOPY Academic Article

abstract

• Scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) was used to image Ratawi (neutral zone) asphaltenes deposited on highly oriented pyrolytic graphite (HOPG). STM images revealed the formation of ordered arrays covering hundreds of angstroms of the surface. Samples deposited from pyridine solutions above and below the critical micelle concentration were quite similar. The individual features imaged in these arrays were attributed to the termini of the pendant aliphatic chains known to be a part of the asphaltene molecular structure. The ordered arrays imaged were extremely flat and uniform, in contrast to the assumed molecular complexity and the absence of unique structure of asphaltenes. The formation of these ordered surface arrays is further evidence of the tendency of asphaltenes to self-associate. 1994, American Chemical Society. All rights reserved.

authors

• Barteau, Mark

published proceedings

• INDUSTRIAL & ENGINEERING CHEMISTRY RESEARCH

author list (cited authors)

• WATSON, B. A., & BARTEAU, M. A.

citation count

• 35

complete list of authors

• WATSON, BA||BARTEAU, MA

publication date

• October 1994

publisher

• American Chemical Society (ACS)  Publisher

published in

• Industrial and Engineering Chemistry Research  Journal

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

• 10.1021/ie00034a015

start page

• 2358

end page

• 2363

volume

• 33

issue

• 10

URL

• http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/ie00034a015