Synthesis and characterization of an ionic liquid–carboxylic acid copolymer scale inhibitor and its scale inhibition performance
Abstract A phosphorus-free scale inhibitor (ionic liquid–carboxylic acid copolymer) was successfully synthesized by the reaction of 1-sulfobutyl-3-vinylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate (SVIS) and acrylic acid (AA). The structure of the product was characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), hydrogen nuclear magnetic resonance (1H NMR) and carbon-13 nuclear magnetic resonance (13C NMR). Then the scale inhibition efficiency of 1-sulfobutyl-3-vinylimidazolium hydrogen sulfate-acrylic acid (SVIS-AA) copolymer against CaCO3 and CaSO4 was determined. The results indicated that SVIS-AA copolymer showed better scale inhibition efficiency than poly (acrylic acid) (PAA). After that, the effects of temperature and Ca2+ concentration on the scale inhibition efficiency against CaCO3 were studied. Results showed that when the temperature reached 90 °C, the scale inhibition efficiency could still remain 91% at a concentration of 18 mg L−1. When the concentration of Ca2+ reached 1,200 mg L−1, the scale inhibition efficiency could remain 70% at a concentration of 20 mg L−1. At last, the effect of SVIS-AA copolymer on the morphologies of CaCO3 and CaSO4 scale was studied by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and X-ray diffraction (XRD).