Review on aggregation of asphaltene vis-a-vis spectroscopic studies

Both petroleum and coal derived asphaltene finds important place on the present research areas of hydrocarbon based liquid and solid fuels. It has earned a name of 'unwanted' fame for its deleterious impacts arising mainly due to its self aggregational phenomenon. Over the period of time the asphaltene aggregation has been seriously investigated worldwide even at the molecular scale. Besides several methods, the spectroscopic findings (UV Vis and Fluorescence), in this regard, contribute to substantial meaningful data. The major spectroscopic researches on the aggregation of asphaltene over the last ten years have been reviewed in this present study. A brief discussion on the asphaltene molecular structure and molecular weight also comes as a prelude. Asphaltenes derived from both petroleum and coal have been considered.