Search

A thorough knowledge on pore size distribution (PSD) is one of the fundamental requirements for characterization of shale gas reservoirs and for accurate estimation of their gas storage potential. However, being an important future source of energy need in India, the pore size distribution of Indian shale gas systems is not scientifically well understood. In the present study, the nanoscale pore size distributions of prospective Indian shale basins, viz., Cambay, Cauvery, Krishna Godavari (K-G), and Damodar valley (DV), were investigated using mercury injection porosimetry (MIP) and low-pressure gas adsorption (LP-N-2 and LP-CO2) techniques. The study focused on identifying the priority basins for shale gas production which can be substituted for sequestration of CO2 based on their PSDs. The samples exhibited higher thermal maturity with increasing organic content. The chemical composition of the shale samples was inferred from XRD data, which depicted higher clay content. The prominent clay minerals identified muscovite, illite, and kaolinite, which are generally flaky in nature. These minerals contributed significantly to the pore size complexity of the studied shale samples. The experimental result suggested that the samples exhibited diversified pore size characteristics. The shales are chiefly bimodal, consisting of mesopores (2-50 nm) and micropores (

Sodium deoxycholate (NaDC) is a water soluble bile salt commonly used in applications ranging from cell lysis, liposome preparation and isolation of membrane proteins. We present the microstructural evolution in aqueous mixtures of biocompatible cationic surfactant cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) and bile salt NaDC using dynamic light scattering (DLS), small angle neutron scattering (SANS) and small angle X-ray scattering (SAXS). When the total concentration of the mixture (C-T) is less than 370 mM, associative phase separation occurs, near the equimolar ratio, which vanishes at high concentrations (>370 mM). The associative phase separation observed at low CT has been explained on the basis of competition between electrostatic attraction and entropy of mixing of the components. Pure CPC micelles undergo shape transition from prolate to oblate, as the concentration increases from 50 mM to 400 mM. Small addition of NaDC to 400 mM of CPC leads to marginal size change in the oblate micelles. On the other hand, pure NaDC micelles are prolate ellipsoids for which the micellar size increases by incorporation of CPC. The observed structural transition is explained in terms of the electrostatic binding of bile salts to cationic surfactants and the incorporation of the steroidal skeleton in the bile salt at the micelle core-head group interface. Microstructure evolution in catanionic mixtures comprising biocompatible surfactants offers potential pharmaceutical applications.