γ-Cyclodextrin-based metal-organic frameworks for lactonic sophorolipid application in enhanced oil recovery

Tingting Zhang; Hao He; Qing Xu; Jiasheng Lv; Chaoyi Wu; Yefei Zhou; Zhenjiong Wang

doi:10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120931

γ-Cyclodextrin-based metal-organic frameworks for lactonic sophorolipid application in enhanced oil recovery

Carbohydr Polym. 2023 Aug 15:314:120931. doi: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120931. Epub 2023 Apr 19.

Authors

Tingting Zhang¹, Hao He², Qing Xu³, Jiasheng Lv⁴, Chaoyi Wu⁴, Yefei Zhou⁵, Zhenjiong Wang⁶

Affiliations

¹ School of Food Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, China; School of College of Biotechnology and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Tech University, Nanjing 210009, China.
² Petrochemical Research Institute of Petrochina Co. Ltd., Beijing 102206, China.
³ School of Food Science and Pharmaceutical Engineering, Nanjing Normal University, Nanjing 210046, China. Electronic address: xu_qing@njnu.edu.cn.
⁴ College of Food Science & Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Grain Circulation and Safety, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210023, China.
⁵ School of Food Science, Nanjing Xiaozhuang University, Nanjing 211171, China.
⁶ College of Food Science & Engineering, Collaborative Innovation Center for Modern Grain Circulation and Safety, Nanjing University of Finance and Economics, Nanjing 210023, China. Electronic address: wangzhenjiong@gmail.com.

PMID: 37173029
DOI: 10.1016/j.carbpol.2023.120931

Abstract

Lactonic sophorolipid (LSL) exhibits numerous surfactant activities, such as emulsification, wetting action, dispersion effect, and oil-washing activities. Nevertheless, LSLs have poor water solubility, which restrains their application in the petroleum industry. In this research, a new compound, lactonic sophorolipid cyclodextrin metal-organic framework (LSL-CD-MOFs), was obtained by loading LSL into γ-cyclodextrin metal-organic frameworks (γ-CD-MOFs). The LSL-CD-MOFs were characterized by N₂ adsorption analysis, X-ray powder diffraction analysis, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, and thermogravimetric analysis. Loading LSL into γ-CD-MOFs significantly increased the apparent water solubility of LSL. However, the critical micelle concentration of LSL-CD-MOFs was similar to that of LSL. Furthermore, LSL-CD-MOFs effectively reduced the viscosities and improved the emulsification indices of oil-water mixtures. Oil-washing tests, which were conducted using oil sands, revealed that the LSL-CD-MOFs yielded an oil-washing efficiency of 85.82 % ± 2.04 %. Overall, γ-CD-MOFs are promising carriers for LSL, and LSL-CD-MOFs are a potential, low-cost, new, green surfactant for enhanced oil recovery.

Keywords: Cyclodextrin; Emulsification index; Enhanced oil recovery; Lactonic sophorolipid; Lactonic sophorolipid (PubChem CID 117065237); Metal-organic framework; Viscosity-reducing efficiency; γ-Cyclodextrin (PubChem CID 5287407).