Engineering polymer brush nanoparticles to disrupt asphaltene aggregation

AA/AMPS is the copolymer of acrylic acid and 2-acrylanmido-2 methylpropanesulfonic acid (AMPS). Due to the carboxylic group (scale inhibition and dispersion) and sulfonic acid group (strong polarity) in this copolymer, AA/AMPS has high salt tolerance.  Grafting of poly(AA-AMPS) chains onto iron oxide nanoparticles results in stable dispersions that can tolerate high salinities and temperatures.  We will describe how these nanoparticle-polymer formulations can be used to inhibit asphaltene, a class of macromolecules found in crude oils, deposition of mineral surfaces.  Asphaltenes have large aromatic cores with a large number of heteroatoms that have a high propensity for aggregation.  Our results reveal that AA/AMPS nanoparticles interrupt the aggregation of asphaltenes by disrupting the pi-pi stacking between the aromatic cores. We utilize a porous media microfluidic device that can be used to visualize and measure the dynamics of asphaltene deposition in the presence of the AA-AMPS nanoparticles.  New insights into how the nanoparticle-polymer aggregate influences the deposition profile of asphaltene agregates will be described.