Photopatterned oil-reservoir micromodels with tailored wetting propertiesElectronic supplementary information (ESI) available. See DOI: 10.1039/c5lc00277j

• Main Authors: Lee, Hyundo, Lee, Seung Goo, Doyle, Patrick S
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 30.06.2015
• ISSN: 1473-0197; 1473-0189
• DOI: 10.1039/c5lc00277j

Micromodels with a simplified porous network that represents geological porous media have been used as experimental test beds for multiphase flow studies in the petroleum industry. We present a new method to fabricate reservoir micromodels with heterogeneous wetting properties. Photopatterned, copolymerized microstructures were fabricated in a bottom-up manner. The use of rationally designed copolymers allowed us to tailor the wetting behavior (oleophilic/phobic) of the structures without requiring additional surface modifications. Using this approach, two separate techniques of constructing microstructures and tailoring their wetting behavior are combined in a simple, single-step ultraviolet lithography process. This microstructuring method is fast, economical, and versatile compared with previous fabrication methods used for multi-phase micromodel experiments. The wetting behaviors of the copolymerized microstructures were quantified and demonstrative oil/water immiscible displacement experiments were conducted. We present a new method to fabricate oil-reservoir micromodels with heterogeneous wetting properties.