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Free radical induced degradation of high molecular weight partial hydrolysis polyacrylamide (HPAM) in a ferrous iron containing system

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Abstract

High molecular weight partial hydrolysis polyacrylamide (HPAM) is widely used in the oil recovery, and however, these high molecular weight HPAM will experience a rapid degradation when Fe2+ was existed in the system. Some studies have implied it was a radical assisted decomposition process. However, no direct evidence had been provided in the reported works. Here, we investigated the effect of different metal ions, and the addition of (2,2,6,6-tetramethylpiperidinooxy) TEMPO to know the polymer degradations of the system. Further, by conducting electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) on the Fe2+/HPAM system, we firstly provide a solid proof of the radical assist degradation process for the HPAM in the presence of Fe2+ and oxygen. The mechanism has also been provided based on the observations.

Graphical abstract

The degradation mechanism is first revealed by EPR measurements for a Fe2+ containing HPAM solution. A solid proof of the radical assists degradation process for the HPAM in the presence of Fe2+ and oxygen.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the National Science and Technology Major Project (Grants 257026), Cai Y and Wang Z contributed equally to this work.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Polymer Science and Engineering, School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing, 210023, China

    Yifeng Cai & Qiuhong Zhang

  2. Sinopec Petroleum Engineering Corporation, Dongying, 257026, China

    Zuohua Wang, Jian Zhang & Qingfang Li

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  1. Yifeng Cai
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  2. Zuohua Wang
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  3. Jian Zhang
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  4. Qingfang Li
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  5. Qiuhong Zhang
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Correspondence to Qiuhong Zhang.

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Cai, Y., Wang, Z., Zhang, J. et al. Free radical induced degradation of high molecular weight partial hydrolysis polyacrylamide (HPAM) in a ferrous iron containing system. Polym. Bull. 79, 9397–9406 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-021-03949-7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00289-021-03949-7

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