Much of the world's petroleum resources are in the form of bitumen (heavy and light oil fractions) mixed with sands and clays. These deposits are generally referred to as oil sands. Extraction of the bitumen from this source requires a larger input of energy relative to that required for conventional crude oil. Further, the process requires the use of fresh water and leaves behind large, but temporary, tailings ponds . Oil sand bitumen contains significant quantities of asphaltenes, which may form deposits in wells and pipelines, as well as insoluble nanosized aggregated. Upgrading this bitumen requires the treatment/removal of asphaltenes, which seriously reduces the cost-effectiveness associated with the process. This is complicated by the fact that asphaltene structure and composition differ depending upon their source. There remains a need in the art for new uses of asphaltenes. New uses for asphaltenes help reducing the environmental burden of bitumen extraction in which they are often considered a waste product. Here we report the first results of an investigation focusing on the use of asphaltenes from different sources as materials for efficient (opto)electronic devices.
Towards a greener organic electronics: the re-use of bitumen asphaltenes
MARROCCHI, Assunta
2014
Abstract
Much of the world's petroleum resources are in the form of bitumen (heavy and light oil fractions) mixed with sands and clays. These deposits are generally referred to as oil sands. Extraction of the bitumen from this source requires a larger input of energy relative to that required for conventional crude oil. Further, the process requires the use of fresh water and leaves behind large, but temporary, tailings ponds . Oil sand bitumen contains significant quantities of asphaltenes, which may form deposits in wells and pipelines, as well as insoluble nanosized aggregated. Upgrading this bitumen requires the treatment/removal of asphaltenes, which seriously reduces the cost-effectiveness associated with the process. This is complicated by the fact that asphaltene structure and composition differ depending upon their source. There remains a need in the art for new uses of asphaltenes. New uses for asphaltenes help reducing the environmental burden of bitumen extraction in which they are often considered a waste product. Here we report the first results of an investigation focusing on the use of asphaltenes from different sources as materials for efficient (opto)electronic devices.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.