Study on the self-assembly properties of surface active hydrophobically associating polyacrylamide with nonionic surfmer units

A novel class of hydrophobic associated copolymers (PASC) with nonionic surfmer was synthesized. These copolymers are the copolymerization product of acrylamide (AM), 2-(acrylamido)-2- methyl propane sulfonic acid (AMPS) and different contents of nonionic surfmer (CP). Macroscopic and microscopic self-assembly associative properties in solutions of PASC, as well as the effects of salt and temperature on the associative behavior were studied via viscosimetry, scanning electron microscope (SEM), atomic force microscope (AFM), rheology and fluorescence spectroscopy (FS). The results show that the introduced nonionic surfmer along polymer chain can lead to a strong intermolecular hydrophobic association in water. The viscosity and surface activity increased with the increase of polymer concentration and nonionic surfmer concentration. Additionally, the polymer showed a good thermal stability and good salt tolerance. Contact angle studies shows that PASC solution has good potential on change of wettability from oil-wet to water-wet. All of these properties indicate that the polymer is an excellent chemical for chemical enhanced oil recovery.