Effects of highly exfoliated montmorillonite layers on the properties of clay reinforced terpolymer nanocomposite plugging microspheres

In this study, exfoliated montmorillonite (MMT) nanolayers were successfully encapsulated in acrylamide/acrylic acid/2‐acrylamido‐2‐methylpropanesulfonic acid (AM/AA/AMPS) terpolymer microspheres by in situ inverse suspension polymerization with the aid of the organic intercalation modification and the lateral groups of terpolymer chains. The introduction of well‐dispersed MMT nanolayers reveals a significant enhancement of the comprehensive properties of these nanocomposite microspheres, such as the viscoelasticity, thermal stability, and plugging ability. Compared with the pure terpolymer, the elastic modulus ( G ′) of terpolymer/2.0 wt % O‐MMT nanocomposites is 4.30 times higher and the decomposition temperature of these nanocomposites increases by 40 °C. The plugging rate reaches as high as 86.6%. Besides, surface morphology, swelling degree, and wetting behavior can be effectively tuned by varying the content of exfoliated MMT. The wetting angle increases to 82.0 ° which is suitable for modifying the formation channels. These selected nanocomposite microspheres can effectively enter and plug the high permeable microchannels. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017 , 134 , 44894.