Cucurbit[7]uril-Modified Nano SiO2 for Efficient Separation of Crude Oil Emulsions: Properties and Demulsification Mechanism.

Demulsification of crude oil emulsion is an obvious problem in the whole of petroleum engineering, which needs to be dealt with urgently. In this paper, a supramolecular material Cucurbit[7]uril-SiO₂ (CB-SiO₂) synthesized with excellent demulsification efficiency (DE) on O/W emulsion was synthesized by a simple thermal synthesis method. The microscopic morphology and structure were investigated through modern characterization techniques. Furthermore, its stability, dynamic interfacial tension (IFT), and wettability (three-phase contact angle (CA)) were systematically investigated, and the demulsification efficiency of different conditions on crude oil emulsion was also investigated. Reassuringly, these results showed that when the temperature was 70 °C, the demulsification dosage was close to 600 mg/L and remained unchanged for 90 min; the demulsification efficiency is 2.2 times compared with the unmodified material, up to 93.63%. In addition, a plausible demulsification mechanism was proposed, which is that CB-SiO₂ can adsorb and disrupt the oil-water interface, leading to oil-water separation and promoting demulsification. It is a promising demulsification material for the oil industry demulsification.