Stabilization of Asphaltenes in Aliphatic Solvents Using Alkylbenzene-Derived Amphiphiles. 2. Study of the Asphaltene-Amphiphile Interactions and Structures Using Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy and Small-Angle X-ray Scattering Techniques

Abstract

In the preceding paper in this issue, the influence of the chemical structure of a series of alkylbenzene-derived amphiphiles on the stabilization of asphaltenes was described. In this paper, we present the results of using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and small-angle X-ray scattering (SAXS) techniques to study the interaction between asphaltenes and two alkylbenzene-derived amphiphiles, p-alkylphenol and p-alkylbenzenesulfonic acid. FTIR spectroscopy was used to characterize and quantify the acid-base interactions between asphaltenes and amphiphiles. It was found that asphaltenes could hydrogen-bond to p-dodecylphenol amphiphiles. The hydrogen-bonding capacity of asphaltenes was estimated to be 1.6-2.0 mmol/g of asphaltene. On the other hand, the FTIR spectroscopic study indicated that asphaltenes had a complicated acid-base interaction with p-dodecylbenzenesulfonic acid (DBSA) amphiphiles with a stoichiometry of about 1.8 mmol of DBSA/g of asphaltene. The UV/vis spectroscopic study suggested that asphaltenes and DBSA could associate into large electronic conjugated complexes. Physical evidence of the association between asphaltenes and amphiphiles was obtained by SAXS measurements. 27 refs., 10 figs.