Synthesis, characterization and solution properties of β-cyclodextrin-functionalized polyacrylamide/montmorillonite nanocomposites

Abstract

A novel nanocomposite (AAMC/O-Mt) of acrylamide (AM)/2-acrylamido-2-methyl propane sulfonic acid (AMPS)/modified β-cyclodextrin (MAH-β-CD)/organo-modified montmorillonite (O-Mt) was successfully prepared via in situ polymerization. The morphologies and structures of the O-Mt layers dispersion in the polymer matrix were detected using transmission electron microscopy (TEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD). The AAMC/O-Mt was characterized by FT-IR and thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA).The introduction of well-dispersed O-Mt layers exhibited a considerable enhancement of the comprehensive properties of nanocomposite, such as viscosification, temperature-tolerance, salt-resistance and shear-resistance. Compared with the pure copolymer AM/AMPS/MAH-β-CD (AAMC), the AAMC/1.0 wt% O-Mt revealed an impressive thermal stability at T = 85 ℃ after 15 days, and the viscosity reached ∼2 times that of AAMC. Dynamic rheology test demonstrated that O-Mt layers acted as multifunctional crosslinkers between polymer molecules so as to enhance the elasticity of AAMC/O-Mt. The results indicated that AAMC/O-Mt had potential application for enhanced oil recovery.