Structural modification of coal-tar pitch fractions during mild oxidation—relevance to carbonization behavior

Modified pitches with softening points of about 175 °C were prepared by air-blowing at 300 °C of coal-tar pitches from different commercial coke-oven tars. The modifications induced by the mild oxidation were monitored using solvent and extrographic fractionation, elemental analysis, ¹H NMR and HPLC. Optical microscopy was used to follow the effect of air-blowing on carbonization behaviour. Low molecular weight cata-condensed PAHs and those with basic nitrogen and hydroxylic functionalities present in extrographic fractions F2 and F4, respectively, are preferentially polymerized pitch constituents. In contrast, peri-condensed PAHs in extrographic fractions F2 and F3, are practically unreactive under the oxidation conditions used. The mild oxidation enhances the tendency of quinoline insoluble (QI) particles to form aggregates in an early stage of thermal treatment, modifying the mode of mesophase development and leading to a non-homogeneous optical texture. The enhanced propensity of QI to aggregation is discussed in terms of structural peculiarities of the parent pitch and possible oxidative polymerization reactions.