Solubilities of mesophases into pitch distillates

Abstract

This study investigated the solubilities of mesophases in pitch distillates. The mesophases and distillates prepared from five pitches were mixed and then heated at 673 K for 2 h. The resulting samples were observed under polarized light. Distillates with high hydrogen donor abilities and not very high aromaticity or aliphaticity were good mesophase solvents. Whereas, the mesophases with quinoline-insiluble (Ql) components having larger crystallite size did not readily dissolve in the distillates. The mesophases dissolved into the distillates via formation of the network mesophase.