No.16 Asphaltene Aggregation Behavior in Organic Solvents Determined By Small-angle X-ray Scattering

Abstract

Small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) analyses of an asphaltene at various concentrations in toluene (TL) and bromobenzene (BB) were performed at a synchrotron facility. BB is considered to be one of the "best" pure solvents for CaAs when determining the Hansen Solubility Parameters (HSP). Although the aggregation behavior of the CaAs in toluene (TL) was confirmed to be similar to that reported in previous SAXS studies, the behavior in BB was markedly different. The results indicated that aggregates with a soft boundary of 〜30-60Å in the radius of gyration (R_g), which were observable in TL, disappeared in BB and larger aggregates with a clear boundary appeared simultaneously.