A novel dendritic-like terpolymer as a viscosifying additive for enhanced oil recovery

Novel twin-tailed associative terpolymer (DDSPAM) was prepared by micellar copolymerization of acrylamide (AM) and sodium vinylsulfonate (SVS) with N,N-didecyl-N-methyl-N-(4-vinylbenzyl)ammonium chloride (DDMVBA). The chemical structure and the molecular weight of DDSPAM were characterized by 1H NMR and gel permeation chromatography-multi-angle light scattering (GPC-MALLS). Morphology and aggregation properties of DDSPAM were studied by TEM and AFM, which exhibit that DDSPAM forms the new dendritic-like aggregates in the aqueous solution. In addition, the measurements of viscosity in simulated water demonstrated that the DDSPAM has good thickening capacity and potential for high performance in the practical application as a viscosifying additive for enhanced oil recovery.