A microscopic characterization of wettability in shale kerogen with varying maturity levels

The results demonstrate that kerogen maturity governs wettability of organic kerogen pores, due to the influence of surface heterogeneity and the distribution of polar molecules on kerogen. The wettability in kerogen is very likely to be heterogeneous. Depending on the maturity level, kerogen may be hydrocarbon wetting at high maturity, neutral wetting at intermediate maturities or even hydrophilic for organic surfaces of very low maturities. Additionally, our results indicate that in kerogen there may be a critical local density of surface functionalized sites that may create optimal conditions for hydrophilic kerogen surfaces.