Effect of Process Variable on the Gelation Time of Sulfonated Polyacrylamide Nanocomposite Hydrogel

Among the methods available to reduce water production during oil recovery, injecting a gelling system composed of a polymer and a crosslinker has been widely used. In this study, a Plackett-Burman design was used for screening a large number of factors such as concentrations of polymer, crosslinker, pH, temperature, and presence or absence of NaCl, CaCl₂, MgCl₂, KCl, thiourea, sodium lactate, and nanoclay on the gelation time of sulfonated polyacrylamide nanocomposite hydrogels by rheological tests. Among these factors, temperature, pH, and CaCl₂ concentration were found to have the greatest effect on the gelation time. The effects of these three factors and their interactions on the gelation time were then determined by using central composite design of response surface method. As a result, the interactions of CaCl₂ concentration with temperature and pH were considerably more than the interactions of pH and temperature on the gelation time. At low pH (3 < pH < 7), the gelation time decreased by decrease of pH while at CaCl₂ concentration of 3750–11250 ppm and at 7 < pH < 11, the gelation time increased with the increase of pH. It was found that temperature was the most effective parameter to control the gelation time.     

Effects of Sodium Salts Organic Acids Modification on the Microstructure and Dispersion Behavior of Palygorskite Nano-Powder via High-Pressure Homogenization Process

High-pressure homogenization could disaggregate the crystal bundles of palygorskite and favor the adsorption of electrolyte ions onto its surface through the produced cavitation, shear, and turbulence forces, and has evident influences on the micromorphologies and properties of clay. In this work, a series of palygorskite samples modified with sodium citrate, sodium benzoate, sodium lactate, sodium acetate, and sodium propionate were obtained under the condition of high-pressure homogenization. The effects of type and concentration of sodium salts organic acids on the microstructure, morphology, surface charge, and physicochemical property of palygorskite were studied through x-ray diffraction (XRD), N₂ adsorption–desorption isotherm, field emission scanning electron microscopy, zeta potential, rotational viscosity, and rheological measurements. XRD results confirmed that the crystal structure of homogenized palygorskite was not changed after introduction of sodium salts organic acids, but the aggregates were effectively disaggregated. Modification of palygorskite with sodium citrate made the surface more negatively charged, and the samples exhibited higher specific surface area and rheological properties. This work provided a method to improve the rheological properties of palygorskite suspension through dispersion of clay in sodium citrate solution followed by homogenization at 30 MPa.      

Phenylboronate‐diol crosslinked polymer/SWCNT hybrid gels with reversible sol–gel transition

This work demonstrates the successful incorporation of functionalized single‐walled carbon nanotubes (f‐SWCNTs) into the phenylboronate‐diol crosslinked polymer gel to create a hybrid system with reversible sol–gel transition. The phenylboronic acid‐containing and diol‐containing polymers were first separately prepared by the reversible addition–fragmentation chain transfer polymerization. Covalent functionalization of single‐walled carbon nanotubes (SWCNTs) with an azide‐derivatized, diol‐containing polymer was then accomplished by a nitrene addition reaction. Subsequently, the hybrid gels were prepared by crosslinking the mixture of f‐SWCNTs and diol‐containing polymer with the phenylboronic acid‐containing polymer. The hybrid gel has been characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and rheological analysis. The SEM measurement demonstrated a homogeneous dispersion of f‐SWCNTs within the gel matrices. Rheological experiments also demonstrated that the hybrid gel exhibited storage moduli significantly higher than those of the native gel obtained from the phenylboronic acid‐containing and diol‐containing polymers. The hybrid gel can be switched into their starting polymer (f‐SWCNTs) solutions by adjusting the pH of the system. Moreover, the hybrid gel revealed a self‐healing property that occurred autonomously without any outside intervention. By employing this dynamic character, it is possible to regenerate the used gel, and thus, it has the potential to perform in a range of dynamic or bioresponsive applications Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Polysaccharide‐Based Oleogels Prepared with an Emulsion‐Templated Approach

The preparation and characterization of oleogels structured by using a combination of a surface‐active and a non‐surface‐active polysaccharide through an emulsion‐templated approach is reported. Specifically, the oleogels were prepared by first formulating a concentrated oil‐in‐water emulsion, stabilized with a combination of cellulose derivatives and xanthan gum, followed by the selective evaporation of the continuous water phase to drive the network formation, resulting in an oleogel with a unique microstructure and interesting rheological properties, including a high gel strength, G′>4000 Pa, shear sensitivity, good thixotropic recovery, and good thermostability.     

Synthesis,Characterization, and Property Evaluation of a Hydrophobically Modified Polyacrylamide as Enhanced Oil Recovery Chemical

A novel hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide p(AM/NaA/OP-10-AC/BOAM) was successfully synthesized via an aqueous micellar copolymerization method from acrylamide (AM), sodium acrylate (NaA), octylphenol polyoxyethylene acrylate (OP-10-AC), and small amounts of N-benzyl-N-octylacrylamide (BOAM), with the aim of investigating the copolymer's rheological behaviors under various conditions such as polymer concentration, shearing, temperature, and salinity. The copolymer was characterized by infrared spectroscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and atomic force microscope. Scanning electron micrographs show large aggregates in solution formed by the association from the hydrophobic groups of the copolymer. Compared with partially hydrolyzed polyacryamide (HPAM), the copolymer shows a much higher thickening capability and a much greater ability to resist shearing, heat, and salts. This good property of the copolymer is attributed to its three-dimensional dimensional network structure. According to the core flooding test, it can be obtained that oil recovery is enhanced about 4.3% by the copolymer flooding contrasted to the HPAM flooding in mid-low permeability cores under conditions of 1500 mg/L of polymers and 45°C. All the results prove that the copolymer has the capability of increasing oil recovery by improving waterflood sweep efficiency in high-salinity reservoirs.     

The effect of liquid crystal structure on the rheological properties of nitrocellulose-dimethylacetamide solutions

Solutions of Pyro grade nitrocellulose (NC) in dimethyl acetamide (DMA), containing between 42.5% and 60% NC (w/w), have been studied by differential scanning calorimetry and polarised light microscopy. The results showed that NC forms a lyotropic liquid crystal structure in DMA. A transition from the liquid crystal phase to an isotropic phase occurred over the temperature range 27 °C to 67 °C, and the enthalpy of transition increased with NC concentration. Rheological properties were determined using an extrusion rheometer with a slit die. The solutions were shown to have a yield stress for flow which increased with increasing NC concentration. The solutions were also found to be thixotropic.     

The non-isothermal rheological behaviour of molten polymers: Shear and elongational stress growth of polyisobutylene under heating

Summary Data of stress growth under both shear and elongational kinematics have been taken in presence of heating temperature ramps on a commerical polyisobutylene.The experimental results have been analysed on the basis of a generalized Maxwell model already proved to be very accurate in predicting the isothermal behaviour. A good agreement is observed between the theoretical predictions and the experimental results.Also the features usually observed in volume-temperature curves by effect of cooling acrossT _g are qualitatively reproduced by the model.With 6 figures     

Mathematical programming analysis of bilinear rheological lubrication mechanics

Bilinear rheological lubrication mechanics provides an important basis for the designs of recently developed electrorheological (ER) “smart”journal bearings and those lubricated by mixed fluid-solid lubricants. But there is not yet a reliable and efficient numerical method for such a problem of non-Newtonian fluid mechanics. In the present paper, a finite element method (FEM) together with mat hematical programming solution is successfully used to solve such a problem. A reliable and generalized numerical method for the designs of electrorheological “smart” journal bearings and the bearings lubricated by mixed fluid-solid lubricant is presented.     

A model for the thermorheological behavior of viscoelastic fluids

Using a power-law ansatz for the temperature dependence of the shear modulus on the level of internal variables, the thermorheological behavior is modeled for viscoelastic fluids of a special group of rheological constitutive equations (rate-type models). The model parameter introduced characterizes thermoelastic contributions. The relation between the model parameter and the physical quantities appearing in deformation processes is discussed. Based on the chosen temperature dependence of the shear modulus, thermodynamically consistent equations like the nonlinear rheological constitutive equation and the temperature equation are derived. The special cases of entirely entropy and energy elastic fluids are also considered. The thermorheological behavior (exo-, - or endothermal processes) of a viscoelastic fluid in a stress-growth experiment followed by relaxation is analyzed with respect to the model parameter.     

聚合物分散剂对氟铃脲水悬浮剂流变性质的影响

采用控制应力流变仪研究了聚合物分散剂苯乙烯丙烯酸无规共聚物（MOTAS）用量、分子量及氟铃脲质量分数等对氟铃脲水悬浮剂流变性质的影响。 结果表明,以聚合物MOTAS为分散剂制备的氟铃脲水悬浮剂的流变行为符合Herschel-Bulkley模型。 在固定氟铃脲质量分数为20%时,当分散剂质量分数≤3.0%时,流动行为指数n≤1.0,悬浮体系表现为假塑性流体,当分散剂质量分数≥3.5%时,流动行为指数n≥1.0,悬浮体系具有胀塑性流体特征。 氟铃脲水悬浮剂的流变参数屈服值τH与分散剂MOTAS和氟铃脲的加入量有关。 分散剂MOTAS质量分数≤2.5%时,分散剂在氟铃脲颗粒界面吸附很少,裸露的氟铃脲颗粒界面间相互搭接,具有较大的屈服值τH;当分散剂加入质量分数为3.0%时,分散剂可在氟铃脲颗粒界面形成饱和吸附,若再增加分散剂用量,多余分散剂在悬浮的氟铃脲颗粒间形成搭接,使其屈服值τH增大。 在MOTAS分散剂的分子量在10 000~30 000范围内时,MOTAS分子量愈大,所制得的氟铃脲水悬浮剂的表观粘度和屈服值τH愈小,流变行为指数n虽略有增加,但均小于1,没有改变“剪切变稀”的假塑性特征。