Green synthesise of CuO@Fe3O4@Xantan nanocomposites and its application in enhanced oil recovery by considering IFT and wettability behaviours

Enhanced oil recovery (EOR) makes use of various chemical processes to extract additional oil from reservoirs, often already under production. In this study, authors investigated the role of the CuO@Fe3O4@xanthan nanocomposite (NCs) in EOR by the focus of the interfacial tension (IFT) and wettability alteration mechanisms. This NCs is synthesized from Artocarpus altilis extract using a simple, economical and green method. The prepared NCs is identified using X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), and scanning electron microscopy (SEM). Nanofluids are prepared from dispersing the synthesised NCs in water at different concentrations in order to be used in the density, viscosity, conductivity, IFT and contact angle measurements. The results showed an improvement in the values of IFT and contact angle. The IFT of oil/water is increased from 22 to 24 mN/m with increasing the concentration of the NCs from 250 to 2000 ppm. While, the wettability of the carbonate rock is remained water-wet, wherein the contact angle is raised from 28 degrees to 58 degrees with increasing the NCs concetration from 250 to 2000 ppm. Overall, the IFT and contact angle are only reduced when 250 ppm NCs was added to water from 28.3 mN/m and 132.6 degrees mN/m to 22 and 34.5 degrees.