Ionic liquid as a
chemical flooding agent has broad application
prospect in enhancing oil recovery. In this study, a bifunctional
imidazolium-based ionic liquid surfactant was synthesized, and its
surface-active, emulsification capacity, and CO2 capture
performance were investigated. The results show that the synthesized
ionic liquid surfactant combines the characteristics of reducing interfacial
tension, emulsification, and CO2 capture. The IFT values
for [C12mim][Br], [C14mim][Br], and [C16mim][Br] could decrease from 32.74 mN/m to 3.17, 0.54, and 0.051
mN/m, respectively, with increasing concentration. In addition, the
emulsification index values are 0.597 for [C16mim][Br],
0.48 for [C14mim][Br], and 0.259 for [C12mim][Br].
The surface-active and emulsification capacity of ionic liquid surfactants
improved with the increase in alkyl chain length. Furthermore, the
absorption capacities reach 0.48 mol CO2 per mol of ionic
liquid surfactant at 0.1 MPa and 25 °C. This work provides theoretical
support for further CCUS-EOR research and the application of ionic
liquid surfactants.