Contribution to the Adsorption Mechanism of Acetamide and Polyacrylamide on to Clays

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Abstract
While studying the retention of additives used in tertiary recovery of petroleum (waterflooding) on minerals present in a rock reservoir, an investigation has been undertaken into the adsorption mechanism of Polyacrylamides on to clays. The adsorption of amides and Polyacrylamides takes place exclusively on the external surfaces of the clay particles. The organic molecules are protonated on the surface and adsorbed by ionic forces. There is a linear relationship between the adsorption ratio and the polarizing power of the exchangeable cations of the clay mineral. The adsorption isotherms and the thermal analyses reveal the existence of two adsorption mechanisms: (i) a strong, irreversible adsorption, which corresponds to the formation of a monolayer of chemisorbed molecules, (ii) a more important adsorption of molecules retained by hydrogen bonding, which can be eliminated by heating at low temperature. The retention ratio in the irreversible process, which is practically identical both for acetamide and Polyacrylamide, is low (3 mg/g). It depends on the external cation exchange capacity (CEC) of the mineral and increases with the surface area. The Polyacrylamide adsorption depends on the physico-chemical characteristics of the macromolecule, more particularly on the CONH2/COO−ratio, which determines the extent of the carbon chain, and the molecular weight. The accessibility of the organic macromolecule to the clay particle is controlled by the preceding factors. The quantity of Polyacrylamide irreversibly adsorbed by clay minerals is important in the context of the use of the polymer on a petroleum field. It may be reduced to a minimum by working at low concentrations with a weakly hydrolyzed Polyacrylamide solution.