Journal
JOURNAL OF THE AMERICAN CHEMICAL SOCIETY
Volume 137, Issue 31, Pages 9870-9876Publisher
AMER CHEMICAL SOC
DOI: 10.1021/jacs.5b04056
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Funding
- ERC [291194]
- EU [610446]
- Spanish Ministry of Science and Competitiveness [MAT2013-46593-C6-6-P]
- European Research Council (ERC) [291194] Funding Source: European Research Council (ERC)
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Petroleum is one of the most precious and complex molecular mixtures existing. Because of its chemical complexity, the solid component of crude oil, the asphaltenes, poses an exceptional challenge for structure analysis, with tremendous economic relevance. Here, we combine atomic-resolution imaging using atomic force microscopy and molecular orbital imaging using scanning tunnelling microscopy to study more than 100 asphaltene molecules. The complexity and range of asphaltene polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons are established in detail. Identifying molecular structures provides a foundation to understand all aspects of petroleum science from colloidal structure and interfacial interactions to petroleum thermodynamics, enabling a first-principles approach to optimize resource utilization. Particularly, the findings contribute to a long-standing debate about asphaltene molecular architecture. Our technique constitutes a paradigm shift for the analysis of complex molecular mixtures, with possible applications in molecular electronics, organic light emitting diodes, and photovoltaic devices.
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