Dear Colleagues,

Various gels have been used in oil fields for many years to control fluid flow in reservoirs. Viscoelastic gels can effectively block reservoirs with a high permeability, resulting in a greatly increased sweep efficiency. Many research groups have focused on improvements in the strength, elastic modulus, dewatering rate, breakthrough pressure and microstructure of gels, and systematically evaluated the performances of these gels in terms of their temperature, salt resistance, blocking and long-term stability. Recently, many studies have further modified the viscosity and reduced the filtration loss of gel-forming fluids, controlling the gel forming time of these gels to achieve deep and stable water plugging. Moreover, gels with a high viscosity, good shear recovery and facile gel breaking can also be used as fracturing fluids. Their significant properties, such as retardation, sand carrying capability, temperature resistance, shear resistance, gel breaking capability and so on, have been widely investigated to meet the requirements of practical applications. With the exploration and development of unconventional oil and gas, gels are beginning to play increasingly essential roles in various fields of research, and advanced gels are still in high demand for use in harsh conditions. We look forward to submissions about the latest research achievements on advanced gels for oil recovery, for which theoretical, experimental and application studies are welcome.

Prof. Dr. Han Jia
Prof. Dr. Mingwei Zhao
Guest Editors

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• application of polymer gels in improved oil recovery
• theory of polymer gels in improved oil recovery
• synthesis and characterization of advanced polymer gels
• structure-property relationships of novel polymer
• unconventional oil and gas exploration and development