Nano-Materials Create a Whole New World to Oil Industry

Abstract

Nowadays, nano-material has been greatly developed and successfully applied in many areas, such as information, medicine, energy and consumer goods. Meanwhile, as an important fossil energy, crude oil and its derivatives have been widely used in various aspects of our daily lives. However, along with the increasing difficulties of oil development and the decreasing amount of remaining oil reserve, how to get oil more efficiently and economically has become big challenge to oil industry. Because of its small size and unique multi-function, nano-materials provide many creative solutions to oil industry. For this, what are nano-materials and their key properties are reviewed firstly. Then the current research and applications of nano-materials in oil exploration and production are introduced respectively. Finally, the future trends and potentials of nano-material in oil industry are put forward prospectively.