LAUSR

In our previous work, linear polyelectrolyte cross-linker-bridged hydrogel showed fast gelation within hours, which constrained in-depth deployment of such gels. In the present report, precipitation polymerization of bifunctional VBCTHt monomers in ethanol and acetonitrile generated the nano-gel cross-linkers bearing cyclic sulfonium moieties. The addition of nano-gels cross-linkers to partially hydrolyzed poly(acrylamide) formed covalently cross-linked in situ gels at the temperatures greater than 25 °C. As the morphology of the cross-linker changed from linear form to nano-gel in the state of sphere, the gelation time was controlled from 3 to 40 h. Nano-gel–HPAM system showed three orders of magnitude of delayed gelation while maintaining comparable mechanical integrity in comparison with conventional metallic cross-linked in situ gel, where sulfonium-functionalized nano-gel cross-linkers acting as covalent gelator were utilized for in situ gel formation. The change in cross-linker morphology and bonding nature of the gels dramatically extended gelation time. The mechanics of nano-gel cross-linker-derived covalently cross-linked HPAM in situ gels could be tuned by nano-gel cross-linkers concentration. The viscosity of HPAM and ionic cross-linker gelant had lower viscosity compared to conventional Cr3+–HPAM gel system as confirmed by rheological measurements. The gelant showed excellent salt and pH resistance, rendering it applicable to reservoir conditions. We believe this pioneer work in examination of cross-linker morphology to dictate hydrogel gelation offered the possibility to deploy mechanically tunable gels with delayed gelation for in-depth treatment of reservoir formation to improve fossil energy recovery.