Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2018) 88:105–113

https://doi.org/10.1007/s10971-018-4787-7

ORIGINAL PAPER: INDUSTRIAL AND TECHNOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS OF SOL–

GEL AND HYBRID MATERIALS

A novel silica aerogel microspheres loaded with ammonium

persulfate gel breaker for mid-deep reservoirs
Yang Gong1 Yaofei Lei2 Xiaohong Chen1 Huaihe Song1 Ran Liu1
● ● ● ●

Received: 1 April 2018 / Accepted: 18 August 2018 / Published online: 28 August 2018
© Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2018

Abstract
As one of the important additives in the process of petroleum’s exploitation, the gel breaker is a key factor to determine
whether the exploitation can be completed successfully. Here, a novel porous SiO2 aerogel microsphere loaded with
ammonium persulfate (aAPS) with obvious delay-releasing performance under higher temperature and pressure was
synthesized by the process of sol–gel and water-in-oil (W/O) inverse emulsion polymerization. The obtained gel breaker was
characterized by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR). The releasing
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rate of ammonium persulfate of gel breakers under different conditions was determined by pH meter method. The results
show that the loading of APS is about 53 wt% and the releasing rate is significantly affected by temperature and time.

Graphical Abstract
The whole process showing the preparation and the release process of aAPS is illustrated in Fig. 1. Porous silica aerogel
microspheres were prepared by sol-gel and water-in-oil (W/O) inverse emulsion polymerization. During the drying process,
ammonium persulfate precipitates are still present in these pores when the solution evaporates in the microsphere and then
are successfully obtained by the silica aerogel loaded with ammonium persulfate. During the release process, ammonium
persulfate has a concentration difference in the interior of the microsphere and in the environment of the system. Under this
concentration difference, APS gradually diffuses into the environment of the system. The presence of the network skeleton
of silica aerogel microspheres can greatly prolong the diffusion path of ammonium persulfate, hindering the mutual diffusion
and penetration of ammonium persulfate and water molecules, so the breaker has a certain delay release.

Highlights
● The preparation of a novel silica aerogel-based gel breaker by a simple and industrialized method.
● The releasing rate of the gel breaker can reach about 65% at the temperature of 70 °C.
● The gel breaker has obvious delay-releasing performance under high temperature and pressure, which can reach about
120–130 min when the temperature reaches up to 70 °C.
● SiO2 as an environmentally friendly material, instead of polymer materials, greatly reduces the pollution to the
environment.

* Xiaohong Chen University of Chemical Technology, 100029 Beijing, China

chenxh@mail.buct.edu.cn 2
Beijng Satellite Manufacturing Plant, 100094 Beijing, China
1
State Key Laboratory of Chemical Resource Engineering Beijing
106
Fig. 1 Schematic illustration showing the whole process for the preparation of aAPS
Keywords Silica aerogel Microspheres Gel breaker Ammonium persulfate
● ●
1 Introduction
The shortage of petroleum resources has become more and
more concerned in modern society [1]. While people are
developing sustainable energy, how to make more efficient
and safe exploitation of petroleum resources has become
another focus of attention. Hydraulic fracturing is one way
to increase production quickly and efficiently in the process
of petroleum exploitation. However, in the late stage of
fracturing, the high-viscosity fracturing fluid will cause
serious pollution to the environment if it cannot be com-
pletely ruled out in time [2]. In order to improve its reverse
discharge effect and minimize damage to the well’s reser-
voir, the fracturing fluid must be completely decomposed by
the gel breaker [3, 4]. Now, the most commonly used gel
breakers are oxidized breakers, like ammonium persulfate
(APS) [5]. However, in the actual fracturing process, if the
addition of a breaker was too early or too much, the frac-
turing fluid will prematurely reduce the viscosity and cause
sand-out ahead during the well construction process [6].
Microencapsulation technology is a promising choice to
solve these problems [7–9]. The shell materials of micro-
encapsulation are useful in protecting water-soluble APS
from the degradation, and releasing the APS from the
microcapsules at a suitable rate. Up to now, the most
common shell materials for gel breaker are polymer mate-
rials [10], and the preparation methods of gel breaker are
mainly mechanical packing methods such as fluid bed
coating [11] and spray-drying [12]. Chen [13] reported a
series of microcapsule-containing ammonium persulfate as
core and acrylamide polymer as shell material, which was
synthesized by emulsion polymerization. Zuo [14]
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2018) 88:105–113
●
synthesized ammonium persulfate microcapsules covered
by polypyrrole and glycerol by in situ polymerization for
the purpose of using chemical synthesis alternative to
mechanical wrapping. However, for mid-deep reservoirs,
the organic materials will soften and fracture under higher
temperature and pressure. If the protective materials are
fractured, APS will be released immediately, and then cause
the failure of the hydraulic fracturing. Hence, using an
inorganic material as the protective material to enhance the
stability of protective materials at high temperature and
pressure is a promising idea.
Aerogels, as an amazing artificial nanoporous three-
dimensional network materials, have attracted many
researchers' attention in the last decade because of its many
unique properties such as high specific surface area, high
porosity, and high thermal stability [15, 16]. At the same
time, the controllable structure and the adjustable pore size
of the aerogel can be realized in the sol–gel process [17]. In
addition to the traditional field of building materials with
thermal and acoustic insulation applications, aerogels are
also increasingly used in the field of drug delivery systems
(DDS), due to these superior performances [18, 19]. Smir-
nova et al. [20] loaded hydrophilic silica aerogels with two
model drugs, griseofulvin and ketoprofen, by adsorption
from supercritical CO2. The releasing rate of the drugs was
five and four times higher than their crystalline forms for
ketoprofen and griseofulvin, respectively. Therefore, aero-
gels are the promising material in the field of delayed and
controlled release [21].
In this paper, a novel silica aerogel-based gel breaker was
developed to solve the problems of easy fracture of an
organic-based gel breaker at higher temperature and
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2018) 88:105–113
pressure in reservoirs. Loaded contents were introduced into
the reaction system by directly adding APS into the
hydrolysate. The SiO2 wet gel microspheres were extracted
from W/O inverse emulsion polymerization and dried at
ambient pressure. After drying, the APS was loaded on the
framework structure of SiO2 aerogel instead of conventional
encapsulation. The microstructure, pore structure, and
thermal stability of aAPS were investigated by SEM, BET,
FTIR, and TG measurement, respectively. The releasing
rate of gel breaker under different conditions was deter-
mined by pH meter method. Using silica aerogels instead of
polymer materials as the shell of APS can improve the
stability of gel breaker at higher temperature and pressure,
and make the gel breaker have certain delayed properties,
which further widen the application of gel break for mid-
deep reservoirs. Additionally, silica aerogel-based gel
breaker is an environmentally friendly material on account
that silica is one of the components of the well’s reservoir.
Meanwhile, combining sol–gel method with inverse emul-
sion polymerization avoids the disadvantages of the
mechanical method, which has important research sig-
nificance and value for the application and development of
the gel breaker.
2 Experimental
2.1 Materials
Tetraethyl orthosilicate (TEOS, 98+%), nitric acid (65–
68%), and ammonium persulfate (APS, ground in mortar
before use) were purchased from Sinopharm Chemical
Reagent Co., Ltd., China. n-Hexane (≥97%), sorbitan
monooleate (Span 80), and ammonium hydroxide solution
(25%) were purchased from Tianjin Guangfu Fine Chemical
Research Institute, China. Ethyl alcohol absolute (EtOH,
≥99.7%) was purchased from Beijing Tongguang Fine
Chemical Company, China. All the chemicals were used as
received.
2.2 Preparation of porous SiO2 aerogel microspheres
loading ammonium persulfate (aAPS)
The aAPS was prepared by the process of sol–gel and
water-in-oil (W/O) inverse emulsion polymerization. First,
at room temperature, 5.57 ml of TEOS was mixed with
5.82 ml of EtOH, 4.5 ml of deionized water, and 0.02 ml of
0.05 M nitric acid in a beaker, respectively, under constant
magnetic stirring. After the mixture was clarified, 2 g of
APS was added into the solution as the hydrolysate with
continuous stirring for 24 h.
Continuous phase was produced by mixing edible oil
(80 ml) and Span 80 (5 ml) until homogeneous under strong
107
stirring. Span 80 was chosen in this study as a surfactant as
it is commonly used in the food and pharmaceutical
industries [19]. After that, under continuous magnetic stir-
ring, the prepared hydrolysate (stirred for 24 h) was added
into the continuous phase slowly. The hydrolysate (dis-
solved APS) will disperse into small droplets in the con-
tinuous phase under mechanical agitation, forming a W/O
structure. When dispersed evenly, ammonium hydroxide
was slowly added to the mixture to pH adjustment (the pH
of the mixed solution was adjusted to 7). Then, after stop-
ping stirring and standing for 8 h, small droplets dispersed
in the oil phase will gel to form a microcrystal of silicon
nuclei, and gradually grow into porous SiO2 microspheres.
Finally, n-hexane was employed as a cleaning agent to
wash away the oil phases with the help of vacuum suction
device. After suction filtration, the silica gel particles were
placed in a constant temperature vacuum-drying oven at 40
°C for 48 h to obtain the final aAPS. The whole process
showing the preparation of aAPS is illustrated in Fig. 1.
2.3 Characterization of aAPS
The microstructures of these samples were observed by a
scanning electron microscope (SEM, SUPRA55, Zeiss,
Germany) after gold sputtering and a transmission electron
microscope (TEM, H-800, Hitachi, Japan). With the energy-
dispersive spectrometer (EDS) of SEM, the content of the
sample surface and internal elements were determined. BET
specific surface areas were measured using the nitrogen
sorption method with a surface area and pore distribution
analyzer instrument (BET, ASAP2020, Micromeritics,
United States). The Barrett–Joyner–Halenda (BJH) pore
size distribution was calculated using the desorption bran-
ches. The Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy spectra
(FTIR, NICOLET-iS50, United States) were employed to
record the characteristic absorption peak of the aAPS. The
sample was ground with spectroscopic-grade potassium
bromide (KBr), and the wavenumber range was set from
400 to 4000 cm−1. The crystal structure of samples was
determined by X-ray powder diffraction (XRD, D/
max2500B2+/PCX, Rigaku, Japan) with Cu Ka radiation at
40 kV and 30 mA. Thermal stability and weight of the
sample was measured by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA,
STA449C, Netzsch, Germany) from 20 to 800 °C at a
heating rate of 10 °C min−1.
2.4 Determination of the release rate
Herein, a simple and accurate method has been demon-
strated to measure the releasing rate of gel breaker, which in
principle is that the APS [(NH4)2S2O8] will hydrolyze to
generate two SO42− and two H+ in APS solution. The
hydrolysis equation is formula 1–3. Therefore, when APS
108 Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2018) 88:105–113

Fig. 3 Nitrogen adsorption–desorption isotherms and pore size dis-

Fig. 2 SEM images of aAPS microspheres tribution (inset) of SiO2 aerogel microspheres

loaded on the SiO2 aerogel microspheres is released, the

solution will turn from neutral to acidity and the more APS
is released, the more acidic the solution is. So, we can use
this method to measure the releasing rate of APS over time
under different conditions.
To be specific, the mass of 0.2 g of gel breaker and 20 ml
of deionized water were added into a beaker to stand for 10
min. After that, a pH meter (FE20, Mettler Toledo, China)
was used to measure the pH value of the solution, as the
starting value. Then the pH value of solution was measured
every 30 min until the pH of the solution stayed the same.
The data were calculated by formula 4 to get the releasing
rate.

ðNH4 Þ2 S2 O8 ¼ 2NH4þ þS2 O82 ð1Þ

S2 O82 þ2H2 O ¼ 2HSO4 þH2 O2 ð2Þ

Fig. 4 The FTIR spectra of SiO2 aerogel microspheres loaded with
HSO4 ¼ Hþ þSO42 ð3Þ APS

After measuring the pH of the solution, the release rate m1: the amount of APS released, m: the amount of
conversion process is shown in formula 4: ammonium persulfate loaded in the breaker, R: the release
þ rate.
8  2H
S2 O2
‘The pH of solution ¼ log½Hþ 
  m1 3 Results and discussion
ðNH4 Þ2 S2 O8 ¼
4:564
m1 3.1 Microstructure of aAPS
‘pH ¼ log ð4Þ
2:282
Figure 2 shows the microstructures of the aAPS micro-
m1 ¼ 10log½2:282pH ¼ 100:385pH spheres with different particle sizes. As shown in Fig. 2a,
uniform sizes of spheres of aAPS were obtained and the
100:385pH microsphere sizes are 5 μm approximately. From the mag-
‘R ¼
m nified images of the surface and internal of a damaged
microsphere, shown in Fig. 2b and c, it can be seen that the
surface pattern of microspheres was rugged and there were a
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2018) 88:105–113 109

Fig. 5 XRD patterns of pure APS, pure silica aerogel microspheres, and APS-loaded microspheres

lot of nanosize pore structures. The photograph of the

internal of aAPS microspheres described a typical silica
cluster texture with three-dimensional networks with
numerous voids [20]. In order to further analyze the pore
structure of the microspheres, the samples were character-
ized by low-temperature nitrogen physical adsorption. From
the nitrogen adsorption–desorption isothermal curve and the
pore size distribution curve in Fig. 3, it can be seen that the
specific surface area of the silica aerogel microspheres is as
high as 796.5 m2 g−1, and the average pore size is 9.2 nm.
During the drying process, APS is still in the silica aerogel
when the solution evaporates in the microsphere pores and
then the aAPS is prepared.

3.2 Characterization of the chemical properties Fig. 6 TGA diagram of aAPS microspheres

The infrared spectra of ammonium persulfate (APS), pure
SiO2 aerogel (SiO2), SiO2 aerogel loaded with ammonium
persulfate (APS+SiO2), and after 180 min of releasing
(APS+SiO2—180) were all shown in Fig. 4, respectively.
As it can be seen from the spectrum of APS, the char-
acteristic peaks of APS appear at 3143, 1403, and 1205 cm
−1
. Among them, 1403 and 1205 cm−1 correspond to the
characteristic absorption peak of SO42− in APS, while the
peak at 3143 cm−1 is assigned to the hydroxyl group of
residual water in APS particles [5]. The peaks at 1079 and
472 cm−1 are characteristic functional groups of silica cor-
responding to the antisymmetric and flexural vibration
peaks of Si–O–Si [22], respectively. From the infrared
spectrum of APS+SiO2, the characteristic absorption peaks
of APS and silica can be found simultaneously, indicating
that ammonium persulfate is successfully loaded into the
silica aerogel microspheres while maintaining its own
characteristic groups. Compared with the infrared spectra of
samples after 180 min of release, ammonium persulfate was
found to be well released in this process, due to the
disappearance of the characteristic absorption peak of
ammonium persulfate. The peak at 3440 cm−1 is the
stretching vibration peak of –OH in the figure, the peak at
1635 cm−1 is the absorption peak of adsorbed water, the
peak at 2360 cm−1 is the stretching vibration peak of ≡S–
O–C–, and the presence of ≡S–O–C– group reveals that the
gel polycondensation reaction did not proceed completely.
The disappearance of the peak at 2360 cm−1 after 180 min
of releasing shows that the increasing temperature accel-
erates the gel polycondensation reaction, and the gel poly-
condensation reaction is complete.
Figure 5 shows the XRD patterns of the APS, pure SiO2
aerogel (SiO2), and SiO2 aerogel loaded with ammonium
persulfate (APS+SiO2), respectively. Figure 5a shows the
XRD spectra of APS. It can be seen that APS has many
sharp diffraction peaks, which illustrate that it has an
obvious crystal structure. Figure 5b shows the XRD spectra
of SiO2 and APS+SiO2. It can be seen that the pure SiO2
microspheres have a characteristic broad peak at 2θ ≈ 25o,
showing its amorphous state. The XRD pattern of APS
110
Fig. 7 Relation of release time of APS from SiO2 aerogel microspheres
with different conditions (a pure SiO2 aerogel microspheres and SiO2
aerogel loaded with ammonium persulfate, b the release rate of the
+SiO2 does not show particularly sharp diffraction peaks.
Similar to the XRD pattern of SiO2, there is a characteristic
broad peak at 2θ ≈ 25o. The diffraction pattern of APS
+SiO2 (Fig. 5b) showed an amorphous form of existed APS
in the silica aerogel, which indicates that adsorptive pre-
cipitation of active ingredients from solutions into the fra-
mework of aerogels results in a noncrystalline solid form
[23].
As shown in Fig. 6, the weight loss (about 7 wt%) in the
region of 100–200 °C is mainly due to the evaporation of
absorbed water [24–26]. There is a significant weight loss of
the sample (53 wt%) from 214 to 427 °C corresponding to
APS decomposition, which includes two processes of
decomposition. The remaining mass of 40% is the mass of
SiO2. From the above analysis, it can be seen that the mass
fraction of loaded ammonium persulfate can reach 53% and
the thermal stability of the gel break can reach up to 214 °C.
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2018) 88:105–113
breaker at different temperatures, c the release rate of the breaker at
different ratios of alcohol and water, and d the release rate of the
breaker at different pressures)
3.3 Determination of the release rate
The pH values of pure SiO2 aerogel microspheres and SiO2
aerogel loaded with ammonium persulfate (APS+SiO2)
were measured by pH meter to determine the releasing rate.
As shown in Fig. 7a, the pH value of the SiO2 aerogel
stabilizes at 7.5 with time, belonging to the neutral range,
while the pH value of APS–SiO2 gradually declines with
time from initially 7 to about 1.5, and eventually stabilizes
at 1.5. According to the calculation formula of the releasing
rate, the lower the pH value of the solution, the higher the
releasing rate of ammonium persulfate. While the pH value
of the silica aerogel microsphere remains in the neutral
range throughout the process, the effect of the silica aerogel
microsphere on the test results can be excluded, indicating
that the decrease of pH value comes from the release of
ammonium persulfate.
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2018) 88:105–113 111

Table 1 A comparison of
Sample Temperature Pressure Releasing time Ref.
delayed release effect of capsule
gel breakers MCB-1 70 °C Ambient pressure 100 min [13]
MCB-2 70 °C Ambient pressure 60 min [13]
aAPS 70 °C 30 MPa 130 min Our work

Excluding the effect of silica aerogel microspheres on the

test results, the release rate of the gel breaker at different
temperatures, different ratios of alcohol and water, and
different pressures were determined by pH meter. The
results are shown in Fig. 7b–d. As it can be seen from Fig.
7b, the releasing rate of APS increased with the increase in
temperature. At 30 °C, the sample releases slowly and its
releasing rate does not increase obviously within 3 h. At 50
°C, the releasing rate of APS increases a little bit, and at 70
°C, the releasing rate of APS increases greatly, but the
delayed release effect is still obvious, which can still reach
about 130 min and the maximum releasing amount can
reach about 65% of the load. From the influence of tem-
perature on the releasing rate, it can be inferred that APS
loaded on silica aerogel microspheres is released through Fig. 8 TEM image of the aAPS microsphere
diffusion and permeation. The kinetic energy of ammonium
persulfate is increased with the increase in temperature,
which results in easier diffusion from the pores of silica
aerogel microspheres. The increased temperature also
speeds up the infiltration of water between the microsphere
and environment, thus accelerating the release of ammo-
nium persulfate [27, 28].
In order to exclude the influence of temperature, Fig. 7c
and d are the results of the test at 30 °C. Figure 7c shows the
Fig. 9 EDS scanning analysis of the surface (a) and internal (b) of
effect of alcohol–water ratio on the releasing rate. In the aAPS microspheres
process of aerogel preparation, the ratio of alcohol to water
is a key factor affecting the structure of the aerogel. The
effects of the aerogel structure on the releasing rate were rate. Therefore, the breaker prepared by this method is not a
investigated by preparing aerogel microspheres with dif- traditional capsule type. Ammonium persulfate is attached
ferent ratios of alcohol and water. As it can be seen from to the aerogel network skeletons and voids. From the effect
Fig. 7c, the effect of alcohol–water ratio on the releasing of temperature and pressure on the releasing rate, it can be
rate is not significant, and the releasing tendency of dif- inferred that the release mechanism of the sample is the
ferent alcohol–water ratio samples is substantially the same. release of osmotic diffusion rather than the crush release of
The change in the aerogel structure does not have a sig- the traditional capsule breaker [23, 24].
nificant effect on the release rate, because ammonium per- Therefore, the novel silica aerogel microspheres loaded
sulfate is released through interdiffusion with ambient water with ammonium persulfate gel breaker with well-defined
molecules mainly affected by temperature. porous structures show an enhanced delay-releasing per-
Figure 7d shows the effect of pressure on the releasing formance under higher temperature and pressure. A com-
rate. At a temperature of 30 °C, hold conditions under dif- parison of the delayed release effect of capsule gel breakers
ferent pressures (ambient pressure, 10, 20, and 30 MPa) for is listed in Table 1.
5 min, and then add deionized water. The releasing rate will
be calculated by measuring the changes of pH value over 3.4 Release mechanism analysis
time. As shown in Fig. 7d, pressure has a slight effect on the
releasing rate at 10 and 20 MPa, and has an obvious effect at During the drying process, precipitated APS will remain in
30 MPa. However, for the traditional capsule breaker [3, 4], the framework of the silica network, when the solution
the pressure is an important factor affecting the releasing gradually evaporated. As shown in Fig. 8, the TEM image
112
Fig. 10 Schematic illustration of
the loading of APS in porous
silica microspheres and the
release process
exhibits a well-developed interpenetrating network and a
rich pore structure of aAPS microspheres. Through ana-
lyzing the surface and internal of aAPS microspheres by
EDS scanning analysis, it can be seen that the content of S
element on the surface of silica aerogel microspheres is
0.34% (wt%), and the inside content of S element is 2.41%,
as shown in Fig. 9a, b. The content of ammonium persulfate
inside the microsphere is much larger than the surface,
proving that ammonium persulfate is mainly dispersed
inside of the aerogel particles and the content of ammonium
persulfate increases with the depth of the microsphere.
As shown in Fig. 10, during the process of release,
ammonium persulfate has a concentration difference in the
interior of the microsphere and in the environment of the
system. Under this concentration difference, APS gradually
diffuses into the environment of the system. At the same time,
due to the concentration difference in water molecules
between the system environment and the microspheres, the
water molecules gradually penetrate into the microspheres,
and the water molecules penetrating the microspheres will
dissolve the APS therein, which has a promoting effect for
APS release. The presence of the network skeleton of silica
aerogel microspheres can greatly prolong the diffusion path of
ammonium persulfate, hindering the mutual diffusion and
penetration of ammonium persulfate and water molecules, so
the breaker has a certain delay release. Formula 5 is Fick’s first
law, where J is the diffusion flux, D is the diffusion coeffi-
cient, and dc/dx is the concentration difference. According to
Fick’s first law, the diffusion speed of matter is determined by
the difference of system concentration and diffusion coeffi-
cient. As the temperature increases, the diffusion coefficient
increases gradually, and the infiltration of water molecules and
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2018) 88:105–113
diffusion of ammonium persulfate will speed up at the same
time; so, when the temperature increases, the release rate of the
gel breaker is significantly increased.
dc
J ¼ D ð5Þ
dx
4 Conclusion
Silica aerogels loaded with ammonium persulfate breaker
microspheres with delayed release effect were successfully
prepared by sol–gel and inverse emulsion polymerization
method. The microscopic analysis shows that the prepared
samples exhibit regular sphericity–morphology, and are rich
in pore structures on the surface and inside. The specific
surface area is as high as 796.5 m2 g−1 and the average pore
size is 9.2 nm. Infrared spectrum analysis shows that
ammonium persulfate is successfully loaded into the pores
of SiO2 particles while maintaining its own characteristic
groups. Meanwhile, EDS data show that ammonium per-
sulfate is basically attached to the interior of the micro-
spheres with a loading rate of 53%. The releasing rate of the
breaker is determined by the pH meter method. The results
show that the releasing rate of the gel breaker increased with
the improvement of temperature, and the maximum
releasing rate can reach about 65 % at the temperature of 70
°C. The delay-releasing effect is still very obvious, reaching
about 120–130 min. As the results demonstrate, the novel
porous SiO2 aerogel microspheres loading ammonium
persulfate gel breakers have obvious delay-releasing
Journal of Sol-Gel Science and Technology (2018) 88:105–113
performance at 70 °C and 30 MPa, which can meet the
conditions of mid-deep reservoirs and widen the application
of gel break for mid-deep reservoirs. Meanwhile, SiO2 as an
environmentally friendly material, greatly reduces the pol-
lution to the environment. As a new method of preparing
the gel breaker, the chemical preparation method is of low
cost, easy preparation, and control, which broadens the
thinking based on the traditional mechanical wrapping
method and is favorable for the research and development
of the gel breaker.
Acknowledgements This work was supported by the National Natural
Science Foundation of China (51572014 and 51272019).
Compliance with ethical standards
Conflict of interest The authors declare that they have no conflict of
interest.
Ethical approval This article does not contain any studies with human
participants or animals performed by any of the authors.
Informed consent Informed consent was obtained from all individual
participants included in the study.
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