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In situ combustion (ISC) has attracted extensive attention in the development of heavy oil reservoirs because of its high recovery efficiency and low energy consumption. The ISC has been successfully implemented in the PetroChina Xinjiang oilfield. However, due to the complexity in the composition of heavy oil and the ISC process itself, the molecular composition changes have not been well characterized in field samples. In this study, we used gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS) and high-resolution Fourier transform ion cyclotron resonance mass spectrometry analysis to evaluate the molecular composition of heavy oil samples obtained from the ISC field of the Xinjiang oilfield, both before and after ISC. Small-molecule hydrocarbons were identified by GC–MS, including n-alkanes, benzenes, and naphthalenes, which have an important contribution to reducing the viscosity and improving the quality of ISC oil. Although trace amounts of fatty acids were generated in the process, the contribution of the generated fatty acids to TAN can be ignored compared with the inherent naphthenic acids. The results indicate that the ISC has a positive effect on in situ upgrading of heavy oil.

Using heavy oil and three SDA products as precursors, we synthesized highly fluorescent multi-color carbon dots (CDs) by hydrothermal method and further used the CDs in macrophage labeling.

Free-standing, high aspect ratio sulfur-doped carbon nanodot-based hybrid nanowires with a microtubular aspect were synthesized using self-recognition and self-assembly processes of tubulin, a biological molecule precursor of the cytoskeletal microtubule. Physicochemical characterizations (e.g., morphology, diameter, spectral characteristics, etc.) of such user-synthesized hybrid bionanowires were performed using classical atomic and spectroscopic techniques, whereas bioactivity and functionality testing was demonstrated by mimicking cellular transport based on kinesin, a motor protein capable to recognize, and move on the microtubules. Our results indicate that user-synthesized hybrid nanowires could be manipulated in vitro under constant chemical energy of adenosine triphosphate and have the potential to be implemented in the next generation of synthetic applications from drug delivery to diagnosis systems, and photocatalytic to optical devices.