Adsorption of Welan Gum on Montmorillonite and Its Influencing Factors

Microbial Polysaccharides as Functional Components of Packaging and Drug Delivery Applications

This review examines microbial polysaccharides' properties relevant to their use in packaging and pharmaceutical applications. Microbial polysaccharides are produced by enzymes found in the cell walls of microbes. Xanthan gum, curdlan gum, pullulan, and bacterial cellulose are high-molecular-weight substances consisting of sugar residues linked by glycoside bonds. These polysaccharides have linear or highly branched molecular structures. Packaging based on microbial polysaccharides is readily biodegradable and can be considered as a renewable energy source with the potential to reduce environmental impact. In addition, microbial polysaccharides have antioxidant and prebiotic properties. The physico-chemical properties of microbial polysaccharide-based films, including tensile strength and elongation at break, are also evaluated. These materials' potential as multifunctional packaging solutions in the food industry is demonstrated. In addition, their possible use in medicine as a drug delivery system is also considered.

Improving Water-Based Drilling Mud Performance Using Biopolymer Gum: Integrating Experimental and Machine Learning Techniques

Drilling through shale formations can be expensive and time-consuming due to the instability of the wellbore. Further, there is a need to develop inhibitors that are environmentally friendly. Our study discovered a cost-effective solution to this problem using Gum Arabic (ArG). We evaluated the inhibition potential of an ArG clay swelling inhibitor and fluid loss controller in water-based mud (WBM) by conducting a linear swelling test, capillary suction timer test, and zeta potential, fluid loss, and rheology tests. Our results displayed a significant reduction in linear swelling of bentonite clay (Na-Ben) by up to 36.1% at a concentration of 1.0 wt. % ArG. The capillary suction timer (CST) showed that capillary suction time also increased with the increase in the concentration of ArG, which indicates the fluid-loss-controlling potential of ArG. Adding ArG to the drilling mud prominently decreased fluid loss by up to 50%. Further, ArG reduced the shear stresses of the base mud, showing its inhibition and friction-reducing effect. These findings suggest that ArG is a strong candidate for an alternate green swelling inhibitor and fluid loss controller in WBM. Introducing this new green additive could significantly reduce non-productive time and costs associated with wellbore instability while drilling. Further, a dynamic linear swelling model, based on machine learning (ML), was created to forecast the linear swelling capacity of clay samples treated with ArG. The ML model proposed demonstrates exceptional accuracy (R2 score = 0.998 on testing) in predicting the swelling properties of ArG in drilling mud.

Enhancing the Properties of Water-Soluble Copolymer Nanocomposites by Controlling the Layer Silicate Load and Exfoliated Nanolayers Adsorbed on Polymer Chains

Novel polymer nanocomposites of methacryloyloxy ethyl dimethyl hexadecyl ammonium bromide-modified montmorillonite (O-MMt) with acrylamide/sodium p-styrene sulfonate/methacryloyloxy ethyl dimethyl hexadecyl ammonium bromide (ASD/O-MMt) were synthesized via in situ polymerization. The molecular structures of the synthesized materials were confirmed using Fourier-transform infrared and 1H-nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. X-ray diffractometry and transmission electron microscopy revealed well-exfoliated and dispersed nanolayers in the polymer matrix, and scanning electron microscopy images revealed that the well-exfoliated nanolayers were strongly adsorbed on the polymer chains. The O-MMt intermediate load was optimized to 1.0%, and the exfoliated nanolayers with strongly adsorbed chains were controlled. The properties of the ASD/O-MMt copolymer nanocomposite, such as its resistance to high temperature, salt, and shear, were significantly enhanced compared with those obtained under other silicate loads. ASD/1.0 wt% O-MMt enhanced oil recovery by 10.5% because the presence of well-exfoliated and dispersed nanolayers improved the comprehensive properties of the nanocomposite. The large surface area, high aspect ratio, abundant active hydroxyl groups, and charge of the exfoliated O-MMt nanolayer also provided high reactivity and facilitated strong adsorption onto the polymer chains, thereby endowing the resulting nanocomposites with outstanding properties. Thus, the as-prepared polymer nanocomposites demonstrate significant potential for oil-recovery applications.