Transformation of petroleum asphaltenes to carbon fibers

Petroleum asphaltenes, a by-product of crude oil extraction, are a promising feedstock for the development of high-value carbonaceous materials because of their high carbon content and aromaticity. In this work, we have studied the efficacy of low-value petroleum asphaltenes as raw materials in producing carbon fibers. We present a facile, yet effective, method to produce carbon fibers without the need of expensive pre-treatment processing. To do this, extensive physicochemical characterizations were carried out to evaluate asphaltene properties throughout the entire process. Continuous spinning of green fibers with different diameters (similar to 10-200 mu m) was optimized according to the rheological characteristics of asphaltenes. We originally developed a multi-step stabilization process to cross-link the asphaltene-derived green fibers. This was followed by carbonization of the fibers resulting in fibers with mechanical strength of similar to 400 MPa and Young's modulus of similar to 70 GPa. These are relatively high values obtained without any pretreatment or high temperature carbonization/graphitization. This study presents a previously unexplored avenue to develop low-cost carbon fibers from low-value petroleum asphaltenes. (C) 2022 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.