An unexpected application of clay-polymer nanocomposite science : the genesis of oil and gas in shale source rocks Jeremie Berthonneau1,2, Alain Baronnet1, Olivier Grauby1, Roland J.-M. Pellenq2,3, Franz-Josef Ulm2,3, Henri Van Damme2,3 1 Centre Interdisciplinaire des Nanosciences de Marseille, CNRS (UPR 7251), Campus de Luminy, 13288 Marseille Cedex 09, France 2 &lt;MSE&gt;2, UMI 3466, The Joint CNRS-MIT Laboratory, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA 3 Department of Civil and Environmental Science, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge, MA 02139, USA Source rocks are defined as fine-grained organic-rich sedimentary rocks capable to generate petroleum – oil and/or gas – given sufficient exposure to heat and pressure. The hydrocarbons are generated from that part of the organic matter which has escaped from being oxidized or transformed into biogas in shallow conditions and which has reached large depths in the sedimenting column. As the sediment pile thickens – up to several kilometers – and deepens at the same time, it encounters increasingly high temperatures (from thirty to eighty degrees per kilometer, on average) and pressures. The initially soft sediment is transformed into a real rock, which is called shale if it is clay-rich. In parallel, the organic matter, which is now called kerogen, starts decomposing. It is generally considered that the petroleum-generating organic matter is distributed in the clay matrix as porous particles reminiscent of the biological remains. Here we show that a significant part of the organic matter occurs as intercalated nanocomposites in mixed illite-smectite mineral layers. The consequences of this on stress transmission, on organic matter maturation and on expulsion of hydrocarbons will be discussed in terms of the nanocomposite nanotexture. A parallel will be made with the synthesis of graphene-like layers in clay nanocomposites.

Unexpected application of clay-polymer nanocomposite science: The genesis of oil and gas in shale source rocks

251st National Meeting (2016)

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