A research team from Surgut State University in Russia has proposed producing precisely structured nanoparticles from oil waste, which could contribute to the development of technical fluids used in various industrial fields.
The scientists at the university explained that heavy oil components such as asphaltene have a complex structure and do not always find widespread industrial use. Processing most of these materials is difficult, and they are usually stored or burned.
Yulia Petrova, director of the Institute of Natural Sciences and Technology at the university and head of the strategic technology project "Petroleum Chemistry", pointed out that only a small amount of asphalt is used in the production of bitumen or oil and gas technologies.
"Another viewpoint sees the mixture of these heavy organic materials as a primary source for producing useful carbon materials. From asphaltene, for example, nanoparticles can be obtained that contribute to improving oil recovery. When added to water, they can help extract oil from rocks. However, these particles often stick together in water, forming large clumps, and lose their useful properties. For these systems to be practical, the particles must be stabilized in a solution as a stable colloid. One way to achieve this is to choose a suitable surfactant that adheres to the surface of the particles, changes their charge, and prevents them from sticking together. The simplest example of a surfactant is household soap."
Researchers from Surgut University, in collaboration with colleagues from Tomsk Technical University and the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology, have discovered surface-active materials that can be used to stabilize carbon nanoparticles extracted from the processing of the heavy fraction of oil, as well as titanium oxide (TiO₂) and aluminum oxide (Al₂O₃).
Researcher Dmitry Zelentsov from the Center for Education and Scientific Research at Surgut University emphasized that "these results are extremely important, especially as they enable the precise selection of nanoparticle pairs and surface-active materials to obtain stable aqueous dispersions, which may be useful in developing new compounds and improving existing compounds in the oil and gas industry, as well as other applications that require controlling the behavior of nanoparticles in liquids."
In the future, the researchers plan to test the stability of the system made up of carbon nanoparticles, a surfactant and water in more complex environments, including highly saline solutions and model oil systems.
