Synthesis and swelling behavior of a fully degradable physical cross-linked high strength hydrogel

Abstract

Physically cross-linked high strength hydrogel which can be completely degradable was prepared by the micellar copolymerization using acrylic acid (AA) and octadecyl acrylate as the hydrophobic monomer. The hydrogel was characterized by the infrared absorption spectrum. The tensile strengths of hydrogels were tested in various raw materials, surfactant and initiator ratios. The degradation performances were investigated in different pH values. As a potential temporary plugging material in oilfield, the effect of temperature and salinity on swelling behavior of the hydrogel was also studied in this paper. As expected, this kind of hydrogel can be completely degraded under alkaline conditions. The higher the temperature, the shorter the time needed to reach complete degradation. High salinity was unfavorable to degradation of hydrogel.

Keywords

• Swelling behavior
• Physically cross-linked hydrogel
• Acrylic acid
• Octadecyl acrylate
• Hydrophobic association