An overview on nanosilica–polymer composites as high-performance functional materials in oil fields.

This review comprehensively summarizes potential applications of SiO2–polymer composites especially in oil industries: enhanced oil recovery (EOR), loss circulation (LC), and relative permeability modification (RPM). The significance of these materials has been widely recognized as high-performance functional materials as they combine the flexural properties of the polymer and enhanced thermo-mechanical characteristics of SiO2 nanoparticles (NPs). The composite exhibits increased impact resistance and tensile strength without decreasing the flexibility of the polymer. The addition of SiO2 into the polymer matrices can further extend the possibility of creating hierarchically structured materials, and therefore, SiO2–polymer composites have attracted great interest in various industries. Compared to other materials, suspended NPs/polymer composites offer various advantages, such as high thermal stability, long-term stability, salinity tolerance, and viscosity increment which are very crucial criteria for increased oil production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]