salinity and additive agent (sodium dodecyl sulfonate (SLS)) on the properties of partially hydrolyzed hydrophobically modified polyacrylamide (HMHPAM) by dissipative particle dynamics (DPD) simulation combined with viscometry and AFM observations (atomic force microscopy). The effects of electrical shielding effect and water absorbing ability of salts and pH on the behavior of HMHPAM molecules were investigated through changing the interaction parameter between different beads. The conformation of polymer chains described by the root-mean-square (RMS) end-to-end distance and simulation snapshot was compared with the viscosity. It was found that
for the HMHPAM
the water absorbing effect of salts seriously reduced the viscosity of polymer solutions
but the influence of electrical shielding of salts was not obvious. The hydrolyzed groups of HMHPAM existed in the form of acrylic acid in acidic solutions and acrylic acid anion in alkaline solutions. The electrostatic repulsion between different acrylic acid anion groups can stretch the polymer chains and increase the solution viscosity
which results in the higher viscosity of HMHPAM solutions in alkaline environment than in alkaline environment. The environmental responsive behaviors of HMHPAM were studied to optimize the applied condition of flooding process. The added SLS can influence the interfacial phase properties and bulk phase properties of HMHPAM. It increased the viscosity of polymer solutions and reduced the oil/water interfacial tension of polymer systems. In the HMHPAM solution
the SLS can enter the hydrophobic domains of polymer chains through hydrophobic interaction
which can enlarge the polymer chains and increase the system viscosity. HMHPAM can be adsorbed onto the oil/water interface and reduce the oil/water interfacial tension of the system. The addition of SLS may reduce the interfacial tension obviously
which helps to broaden the potential application of HMHPAM.