This paper proposes a simple scheme to separate asphaltenes from asphalt at room temperature without heating or refluxing. The proposed scheme can solve the problems of high energy cost, expensive devices, and safety risks of flammable steam in standard methods of asphaltene extraction. First, the asphalt is dissolved in a good solvent to obtain a solution containing asphaltenes, and the inorganic impurity as well as residual carbons are removed by filtration. Then, the solution containing asphaltenes is dropped into poor solvent to let asphaltenes flocculate into suspended solids. Finally, the suspension is filtered, and the filter cake is dried to obtain asphaltene solid. The CHNS elements and ¹H-Nuclear magnetic resonance were characterized for the obtained product. Compared with asphalt, the C/H element ratios and the aromatic carbon ratios of the product were higher, which matched the elemental and structural characteristics of asphaltenes. The asphaltene yields obtained from different solvents were compared, and the reasons for the yield differences were analyzed. Recovered solvent could be used to extract asphaltenes, and the yield was found to decrease with the extraction times.

The compositions of extractants containing xylene (G) and n-heptane (P) recovered and reused in the asphaltene extraction process were determined by densimetry and the extracted asphaltenes were analyzed to study the influence of extractant composition on their elemental, spectral and structural properties. With increasing the number of extraction, the G/P ratio in extractant increases, which dissolves more asphaltenes of higher aromaticity and causes a decrease of asphaltene yield, the polarity and aromaticity in molecular structure of the extracted asphaltenes. Asphaltenes extracted at a higher G/P ratio were found to have less fractions of N and O elements as well as higher fractions of H and S elements, a lower C/H atom ratio and molecular unsaturation. Moreover, they have a smaller fraction of aromatic rings and aromatic carbon ratio, a higher substitution rate on aromatic rings, a higher fraction of alkyl chain and free ends in their average molecular structure. Compared with the base asphalt, asphaltenes’ infrared absorptions generally move towards smaller wave numbers owing to more aromaticity in their molecules and subsequent stronger conjugative and inductive effects. The asphaltenes extracted at a higher G/P ratio have a denser packing of alkyl chains and a looser packing of aromatic rings, according to their spectra of X-ray diffraction.

The backbone of the Janus double-brush copolymer may break during long-term service, but whether this breakage affects the self-assembled phase state and microphase transitions of the material is still unknown. For the Janus double-brush copolymers with a periodicity in molecular architecture ranging from 1 to 10, the influences of the architectural periodicity on their phase diagrams and order–disorder transitions (ODT) were investigated by the self-consistent mean field theory (SCFT). In total, nine microphases with long-range order were found. By comparing the phase diagrams between copolymers of different periodicity, a decrease in periodicity or breakage along the copolymer backbone had nearly no influence on the phase diagrams unless the periodicity was too short to be smaller than 3. For copolymers with neutral backbones, a decrease in periodicity or breakage along the copolymer backbone reduced the critical segregation strengths of the whole copolymer at ODT. The equations for the critical segregation strengths at ODT, the architectural periodicity, and the volume fraction of the backbone were established for the Janus double-brush copolymers. The theoretical calculations were consistent with the previous theoretical, experimental, and simulation results.

At present, most cargo ships still use fossil fuels, causing noise pollution, environmental pollution and carbon emission problems. The gradual emergence of cargo ships powered by electricity and solar energy is one of the ways to solve the problem of pollution and carbon emissions. Very little research has been done on the endurance of solar-powered cargo ships and their economic and environmental benefits. This paper takes a thousand-ton cargo ship as an example to study the longest endurance that can be achieved with existing technology when it is driven by pure solar energy. On the one hand, this study helps to evaluate the feasibility of using pure solar energy to drive cargo ships; on the other hand, it points out the direction for the technological breakthroughs needed in the next step. This paper proposes a calculation formula for the sailing time of a cargo ship driven by pure solar energy, and calculates the sailing time of a cargo ship driven by pure solar energy to be about 4.57 h/day based on the existing average solar energy resources and the latest solar photovoltaic technology. Since pure solar energy cannot guarantee the 24-hour battery life, the dual energy guarantee system of "solar power supply + shore-based charging pile" is further proposed, which is currently a more feasible power scheme for cargo ships. One of the key technological breakthroughs needed to popularize pure solar cargo ships is the further improvement of solar photoelectric conversion efficiency. According to the calculation based on the average element composition of fossil fuels and the chemical reaction equation, it is found that the adoption of this system can bring significant economic and environmental benefits to the cargo ship and shipping industry: an average of 1,000-ton cargo ship can save fuel costs of 26.87 million yuan per year; Reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 10,200 tons/year, sulfur dioxide emissions by 63.75 tons/year, and nitrogen dioxide emissions by 95.62 tons/year. Compared with pure electric cargo ships, using solar power can further save electricity costs of 139,800 yuan/year, reduce carbon dioxide emissions by 327 tons/year, sulfur dioxide by 20 tons/year, and nitrogen dioxide by 10 tons/year. According to the calculation results, the development of solar cargo ships is conducive to economic development and environmental protection, and promotes the development of green water transportation, which is worth promoting.