The growing emphasis on environmental protection in petroleum exploitation results in a high demand for ultra-lightweight (ULW) proppants. This work involves fabricating ULW proppant utilizing suspension polymerization, in which alkyl chain decorated natural clay diatomite (Dia) is incorporated into poly(methyl methacrylate--styrene) (poly(MMA--St)). The obtained poly(MMA--St)/Dia composite beads exhibit a low apparent density ranging from 1.025 to 1.213 g cm, and show an impressively low crushing rate of 0.99 % under 52 MPa. The rigid and thermally stable Dia crosslinks with poly(MMA--St) matrix, which increases the network density and restricts the movement of the molecular chain, thereby enhancing both the mechanical and thermal stability of poly(MMA--St)/Dia. Additionally, these composite beads display minimal acid solubility and low turbidity. The exceptional mechanical and thermal stability (attributed to the reinforcement effect and thermal barrier effect of inorganic Dia, as well as the synergistic effect of the copolymerization of MMA and styrene), along with the low acid solubility and turbidity, enabling the poly(MMA--St)/Dia composite to replace traditional proppants and be applied in hydraulic fracturing for oil and gas exploitation.

中文翻译：

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硅藻土增强聚（甲基丙烯酸甲酯-苯乙烯）超轻支撑剂，具有高抗压强度、耐热性和耐酸性，适合水力压裂

石油开采中对环境保护的日益重视导致对超轻质 (ULW) 支撑剂的高需求。这项工作涉及利用悬浮聚合制造超低重量支撑剂，其中将烷基链装饰的天然粘土硅藻土 (Dia) 掺入聚(甲基丙烯酸甲酯--苯乙烯) (聚(MMA--St)) 中。所得聚(MMA--St)/Dia复合珠表现出1.025至1.213 g cm的低表观密度，并在52 MPa下表现出令人印象深刻的低破碎率0.99%。刚性且热稳定的Dia与聚(MMA--St)基体交联，增加了网络密度并限制了分子链的运动，从而增强了聚(MMA--St)/Dia的机械和热稳定性。此外，这些复合珠显示出最小的酸溶解度和低浊度。优异的机械和热稳定性（归因于无机 Dia 的增强效应和热障效应，以及 MMA 和苯乙烯共聚的协同效应），以及低酸溶解度和浊度，使聚（MMA- -St)/Dia复合材料替代传统支撑剂，应用于油气开采水力压裂。