Polymer-sand nanocomposite for water shutoff

Abstract

A method of preparing a polymer-sand nanocomposite for water shutoff. The method includes applying a surface polymerization to sand particles. The surfaced polymerization formed by combining a polymerization initiator dissolved in a solvent with the sand particles to form a precursor sand mixture, combining a co-monomer and additional polymerization initiator in the presence of graphene, where the graphene is not functionalized, to form a precursor polymer mixture, and combining the precursor sand mixture and the precursor polymer mixture to form a sand-copolymer-graphene nanocomposite. The method further includes drying the sand-copolymer-graphene nanocomposite, preparing a polymer hydrogel, and combining the polymer hydrogel and the sand-copolymer-graphene nanocomposite to crosslink the components and form the polymer-sand nanocomposite. The associated method of forming a barrier to shut off or reduce unwanted production of water in a subterranean formation utilizing the polymer-sand nanocomposite is also provided.

Dependencies are inferred from the claim text.