{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,18]],"date-time":"2026-09-18T11:47:19Z","timestamp":1789732039672,"version":"4.0.1"},"reference-count":49,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"10","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,25]],"date-time":"2025-09-25T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1758758400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"DOI":"10.13039\/501100002862","name":"Science Foundation of China University of Petroleum, Beijing","doi-asserted-by":"publisher","award":["2462023SZBH018"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2462023SZBH018"]}],"id":[{"id":"10.13039\/501100002862","id-type":"DOI","asserted-by":"publisher"}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Gels"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Conventional fracturing fluids, while essential for large-volume stimulation of unconventional reservoirs, often induce significant reservoir damage through water retention and capillary trapping. To address this problem, this study developed a novel superhydrophobic nano-viscous drag reducer (SN-DR), synthesized through a multi-monomer copolymerization and silane modification strategy, which enhances structural stability and minimizes reservoir damage. The structure and thermal stability of SN-DR were characterized by FT-IR, 1H NMR, and TGA. Rheological evaluations demonstrated that the gel fracturing fluid exhibits a highly stable three-dimensional network structure, with a G\u2032 maintained at approximately 3000 Pa and excellent shear recovery under cyclic stress. Performance tests showed that a 0.15% SN-DR achieved a drag reduction rate of 78.1% at 40 L\/min, reduced oil\u2013water interfacial tension to 0.91 mN\u00b7m\u22121, and yielded a water contact angle of 152.07\u00b0, confirming strong hydrophobicity. Core flooding tests revealed a flowback rate exceeding 50% and an average permeability recovery of 86%. SEM and EDS indicated that the gel formed nanoscale, tightly packed papillary structures on core surfaces, enhancing roughness and reducing water intrusion. The study demonstrates that gel fracturing fluid enhances structural stability, alters wettability, and mitigates water-blocking damage. These findings offer a new strategy for designing high-performance fracturing fluids with integrated drag reduction and reservoir protection properties, providing significant theoretical insights for improving hydraulic fracturing efficiency.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/gels11100772","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,25]],"date-time":"2025-09-25T12:05:13Z","timestamp":1758801913000},"page":"772","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":4,"title":["A Superhydrophobic Gel Fracturing Fluid with Enhanced Structural Stability and Low Reservoir Damage"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"11","author":[{"given":"Qi","family":"Feng","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), 18 Fuxue Road, Beijing 102249, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Quande","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), 18 Fuxue Road, Beijing 102249, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Naixing","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Downhole Technical Service Branch, CNPC Bohai Drilling Engineering Co., Ltd., Tianjin 300457, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Guancheng","family":"Jiang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), 18 Fuxue Road, Beijing 102249, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Jinsheng","family":"Sun","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNPC Engineering Technology R&D Company Limited, Beijing 102206, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0009-0009-2106-3637","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Jun","family":"Yang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), 18 Fuxue Road, Beijing 102249, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Tengfei","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Petroleum Engineering, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), 18 Fuxue Road, Beijing 102249, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"given":"Leding","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"CNPC Zhejiang Oilfield Branch, Hangzhou 310023, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2025,9,25]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","first-page":"975","article-title":"A novel fracturing fluid with high-temperature resistance for ultra-deep reservoirs","volume":"20","author":"Liu","year":"2024","journal-title":"Fluid Dyn. 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