The Molecular Design of High-Performance Carbon Materials

Abstract

The separation of petroleum pitch into its oligomeric fractions via dense-gas extraction (DGE), followed by the application of both new and conventional analytical techniques to those fractions, has given us unique capabilities for identifying the specific molecular structures that exist in petroleum pitches. In particular, pitch fractions containing 98% monomer or 97% dimer were isolated by DGE and characterized using MALDI, MALDI-PSD, and FD mass spectrometry (MS); as well as by H-NMR, UV-Vis, and FT-IR spectroscopy. Results indicate that the 98% monomer pitch fraction is approximately Gaussian with respect to molecular weight, with the dominant species present being methylated derivatives of the polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAH) benzofluorene, chryses, benzofluoranthene, and their isomers.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Jun 30, 2008
Accession Number
ADA490266

Entities

People

  • Mark C. Thies

Organizations

  • Clemson University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Energy and Power Technologies
  • Human Systems

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Aromatic Polycyclic Hydrocarbons
  • Carbon Carbon Composites
  • Carbon Fibers
  • Chemistry
  • Condensation Reactions
  • Cyclic Hydrocarbons
  • Dense Gases
  • Fossil Fuels
  • Liquid Chromatography
  • Mass Spectrometry
  • Materials
  • Molecular Structure
  • Molecular Weight
  • Petroleum
  • Spectrometry
  • Spectroscopy
  • Temperature Gradients

Fields of Study

  • Chemistry

Readers

  • Aerospace Engineering
  • Organic Chemistry
  • Polymer Science and Technology