Nanoparticles are able to assemble to form mechanically robust interfaces, which is essential for production of stable bubbles and emulsions. Taking advantage of this extraordinary behavior of nanoparticles, “nanofluids” have been developed in field of enhance oil recovery (EOR). In this study, we introduce a smart Pickering emulsion fluid system that is fabricated by controlled interfacial assembly of associative magnetic nanoparticles (AMNPs). AMNPs are synthesized by grafting hydrophobically modified water-soluble poly (2-methacryroyloxyethylphosphorylcholine-co-stearyl methacrylate), poly (MPC-co-SMA), in which the surface-mediated seeded living radical polymerization is employed. Use of this synthetic protocol allows us to obtain AMNPs with an associative polymer layer of which thickness ranges a few nanometers. The hydrophobicity is tuned by changing the copolymerization ratio of SMA against MPC. From dense suspension rheology studies, we have revealed that there is competition between the hydrophobic attraction and the electrostatic and steric stabilization. More interestingly, when the Pickering emulsion is produced by interfacial assembly of the AMNPs, the flow behavior can be kinetically controlled in response to the applied magnetic field, which nicely demonstrates that this emulsion system has great potentials for recoverable emulsion applications in EOR.

Fabrication of Pickering emulsion stabilized by associative magnetic nanoparticles for recoverable emulsion flooding

253rd National Meeting (2017)

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