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Perspectives on a New Age of Materials for Petroleum

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T oday’s world faces the grand dual challenge of providing

affordable and reliable energy while reducing emissions.1
The demand for energy, provided in large part, historically, by
early 20th century to Fourier transform ion cyclotron
resonance (FT-ICR) mass spectrometry and petroleomics in
recent decades, have tremendously advanced our mastery of
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the combustion of fossil fuels, continues to grow in tandem this complexity and helped us produce today’s fuels and
with the world’s population and economy.2 Meeting that dual chemicals.9,10 As we move forward into advanced materials and
challenge requires a multifaceted approach, including research new products, we need to broaden our analyses to a more
on clean or renewable energy sources (wind, solar, geothermal, accurate understanding of molecular structures and their
chemical reactivities.11−15
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hydro, and nuclear energies) to avoid CO2 emissions and the

storage and conversion of energy carriers (electricity, hydro- Recent studies with non-contact atomic force microscopy
gen, or ammonia) for the energy mix. Additionally, CO2 (nc-AFM) provide a glimpse of exact molecules and their
capture and sequestration will be required to facilitate this polynuclear aromatic motifs in the heaviest petroleum
transition toward this future. The role of petroleum and the fractions.16−20 Coupling these structural insights with molec-
disposition of hydrocarbon resources in this future energy ular modeling and aromatic theories is shedding light on their
landscape are yet to be defined, and it will evolve as the energy reactivities. These new structure−reactivity perspectives are
transition evolves. This highlight shares a new perspective on opening the doors to non-combustible uses of petroleum and
using petroleum to address the materials challenge and the enabling us to explore pathways for controlled molecular
scientific research and technologies required to achieve it. weight growth from small molecules in making materials.21−23
Today, the global oil consumption averages about 100 This represents a paradigm shift from the historical focus on
million barrels per day3 or 2 L per person. At a price of $50− molecular weight reduction that was required to convert
100 per barrel, crude oil is one of the most affordable petroleum to clean fuels. Petroleum-derived carbon will then
commercial liquid products ($0.3−0.6/L). Technological be sequestered in materials rather than being emitted as CO2
advances and efficiency improvements over the last century in fuel combustion. Carbon-based materials may also help
have enabled this level of scalability and affordability. However, reduce emissions through the displacement of steel or cement
largely as a result of the prevalent use of petroleum for energy, in infrastructure and energy consumption through the
global CO2 emissions have reached 100 million metric tons per lightweighting of transportation. This research has garnered
day,4 averaging 13 kg per person in the world or 43 kg per significant attention, especially for the disposition of lower
person in the U.S.5 The transition to alternative energy sources value carbon-intensive heavy oils, bitumen, oil sands, and coal-
suggests that global oil consumption will peak soon, even derived liquids.24−27
though proven world oil and coal reserves are sufficient for Petroleum evolved from an Age of Illumination in the 19th
another 50 and 100 years, respectively.6,7 century, with kerosene for lighting as a primary product, to the
By 2050, the world population is projected to increase by Age of Energy in the 20th century, with the growth in
more than 20% from today’s 7.9 billion to 9.7 billion, and the hydrocarbon-fueled transportation. An emerging new Age of
global gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to more than Materials is upon us by mastering the structures and
double.1,2 Not only will energy demand grow, but the demand reactivities required to grow structures from small molecules
for infrastructure, housing, and consumer goods will also to large molecules, with petroleum providing a source of
grow.8 All of these demand growths will undoubtedly increase building blocks to meet society’s materials demands.
the consumption of raw materials and eventually lead to a Yunlong Zhang orcid.org/0000-0002-3071-8625

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materials challenge for natural resources and environmental
sustainability. AUTHOR INFORMATION
An emerging new opportunity is the conversion of those Complete contact information is available at:
abundant heavy aromatic hydrocarbons into non-combustible https://pubs.acs.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c01434
durable materials. Unlocking this opportunity requires master-
ing reactivities and a thorough understanding of petroleum
structures at a higher level than necessary to extract the energy Received: May 4, 2022
content. Petroleum is one of the most complex mixtures on the Published: May 17, 2022
planet, and unraveling that complexity has long stood as a
challenge for analytical and molecular characterization science.
The 150 years of research, from physical property measure-
ments in the 19th century and simple chromatography in the
Published 2022 by American Chemical
Society https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c01434
5529 Energy Fuels 2022, 36, 5529−5530
Energy & Fuels pubs.acs.org/EF Highlight

Notes Gross, L. Heavy Oil Based Mixtures of Different Origins and

Views expressed in this highlight are those of the author and Treatments Studied by Atomic Force Microscopy. Energy Fuels 2017,
not necessarily the views of the author’s affiliation or the ACS. 31 (7), 6856−6861.

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(20) Schuler, B.; Meyer, G.; Pena, D.; Mullins, O. C.; Gross, L.
Unraveling the Molecular Structures of Asphaltenes by Atomic Force
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5530 https://doi.org/10.1021/acs.energyfuels.2c01434
Energy Fuels 2022, 36, 5529−5530