Magnetite-based highly dispersed materials for the sorption of asphaltenes

Highly dispersed materials Fe₃O₄@TEOS and Fe₃O₄@PVP for asphaltenes extraction from organic media have been synthesized via modifications of nanosized magnetite with tetraethoxysilane and N-polyvinylpyrrolidone. Using model compounds simulating the main functional groups of asphaltenes and some natural asphaltenes isolated from crude oil, the sorption capacity was estimated for Fe₃O₄@TEOS. It was found that the extraction degree of asphaltenes from a toluene solution at 45°C reached 65–70%, and the sorption capacity was 28mgg^–1.