Saadi, M.A.S.R.Advincula, Paul A.Thakur, Md Shajedul HoqueKhater, Ali ZeinSaad, ShababShayesteh Zeraati, AliNabil, Shariful KibriaZinke, AashaRoy, SoumyabrataLou, MingheBheemasetti, Sravani N.Bari, Md Abdullah AlZheng, YiwenBeckham, Jacob L.Gadhamshetty, VenkataramanaVashisth, AniruddhKibria, Md GolamTour, James M.Ajayan, Pulickel M.Rahman, Muhammad M.2022-12-132022-12-132022Saadi, M.A.S.R., Advincula, Paul A., Thakur, Md Shajedul Hoque, et al.. "Sustainable valorization of asphaltenes via flash joule heating." <i>Science Advances,</i> 8, no. 46 (2022) AAAS: https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.add3555.https://hdl.handle.net/1911/114131The refining process of petroleum crude oil generates asphaltenes, which poses complicated problems during the production of cleaner fuels. Following refining, asphaltenes are typically combusted for reuse as fuel or discarded into tailing ponds and landfills, leading to economic and environmental disruption. Here, we show that low-value asphaltenes can be converted into a high-value carbon allotrope, asphaltene-derived flash graphene (AFG), via the flash joule heating (FJH) process. After successful conversion, we develop nanocomposites by dispersing AFG into a polymer effectively, which have superior mechanical, thermal, and corrosion-resistant properties compared to the bare polymer. In addition, the life cycle and technoeconomic analysis show that the FJH process leads to reduced environmental impact compared to the traditional processing of asphaltene and lower production cost compared to other FJH precursors. Thus, our work suggests an alternative pathway to the existing asphaltene processing that directs toward a higher value stream while sequestering downstream emissions from the processing.engThis is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial license, which permits use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, so long as the resultant use is not for commercial advantage and provided the original work is properly cited.Journal articlesciadv-add3555https://doi.org/10.1126/sciadv.add3555