Addition of Surfactant-Modified Graphene Improves Water-Based Drilling Mud

This paper reports the effect of sodium dodecyl sulfate modified graphene (SDS-Gr) on the rheological features, fluid loss, and swelling inhibition mechanism of clay. The outcomes revealed that the addition of SDS-Gr to traditional drilling mud clearly affects the rheological properties, increasing its suitability for drilling. Moreover, SDS-Gr additive reduces fluid loss by 20% compared with the mud without SDS-Gr.

Introduction

Graphene is a widely investigated material that possesses an atom-thick 2D conjugated structure, large surface area, and high conductivity. Graphene displays better fluid-loss control than polymer-based materials.