{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T15:07:51Z","timestamp":1789052871040,"version":"build-2803163510"},"reference-count":30,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"9","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1788998400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"funder":[{"name":"Natural Science Foundation of Dongying, China","award":["2026ZR012"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["2026ZR012"]}]},{"name":"Postdoctoral Innovation Program of Shandong Province","award":["SDCX-ZG-202502098"],"award-info":[{"award-number":["SDCX-ZG-202502098"]}]}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["Gels"],"abstract":"<jats:p>This experimental study aimed to develop and evaluate a low-polymer, high-temperature water-based fracturing gel using a dual-ligand organic zirconium crosslinker regulated by sodium lactate and ethylene glycol. The crosslinker was selected by ligand screening and single-factor optimization using the apparent viscosity of LX641 gels as the primary response, and was characterized by FTIR and electron microscopy. Gelation, salt response, high-temperature shear rheology, oscillatory and steady-shear behavior, static fluid loss, gel breaking, proppant suspension, and core-permeability damage were then evaluated. The selected zirconium oxychloride octahydrate\/sodium lactate\/ethylene glycol\/water\/NaOH mass ratio was 10:6:4:15:1.2, with synthesis at 55 \u00b0C, pH 7, for 4 h. A 0.2 wt.% LX641 gel at a base-fluid\/crosslinker-solution volume ratio of 100:0.5 retained an apparent viscosity of 246.84 mPa\u00b7s at 100 min after heating to 190 \u00b0C within 25 min and shearing at 190 \u00b0C for the remaining 75 min at 170 s\u22121. The system also showed no visible settling of 10 wt.% 30-mesh ceramic proppant after 12 h, core-permeability damage of 11.98\u201313.65%, and visually clear broken fluid within 2 h using 0.01 wt.% ammonium persulfate at 70 \u00b0C. The results indicate that sodium-lactate\/ethylene-glycol regulation can support substantial high-temperature viscosity retention at only 0.2 wt.% polymer loading, providing a low-polymer alternative for further development of high-temperature zirconium-crosslinked fracturing gels.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/gels12090829","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]],"date-time":"2026-09-10T14:11:22Z","timestamp":1789049482000},"page":"829","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["A Low-Polymer High-Temperature Water-Based Fracturing Gel Enabled by a Dual-Ligand Organic Zirconium Crosslinker: An Experimental Study"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"12","author":[{"given":"Fei","family":"Liu","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Petroleum Engineering, Shandong Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Technology, Dongying 257061, China"},{"name":"Efficient Exploration and Development of Oil and Gas Reservoirs and the Integration of Geology and Engineering Shandong Provincial Engineering Research Center, Dongying 257061, China"},{"name":"Shandong Key Laboratory of Shale Oil Exploration and Development in Continental Faulted Basin, Dongying 257015, China"},{"name":"Shandong Key Laboratory of Green Electricity & Hydrogen Science and Technology, Dongying 257061, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-original-draft","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Xuewu","family":"Wang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Petroleum Engineering, Shandong Institute of Petroleum and Chemical Technology, Dongying 257061, China"},{"name":"Efficient Exploration and Development of Oil and Gas Reservoirs and the Integration of Geology and Engineering Shandong Provincial Engineering Research Center, Dongying 257061, China"},{"name":"Shandong Key Laboratory of Shale Oil Exploration and Development in Continental Faulted Basin, Dongying 257015, China"},{"name":"Shandong Key Laboratory of Green Electricity & Hydrogen Science and Technology, Dongying 257061, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"conceptualization","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"methodology","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"resources","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"funding-acquisition","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Xiaqing","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Petroleum Engineering Technology Research Institute of Shengli Oilfield Company, SINOPEC, Dongying 257000, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"supervision","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Peng","family":"Tao","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi University Engineering Research Center of Oil and Gas Field Chemistry, Xi\u2019an Petroleum University, Xi\u2019an 710065, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"validation","vocabulary":"credit"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Boyang","family":"Shen","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi University Engineering Research Center of Oil and Gas Field Chemistry, Xi\u2019an Petroleum University, Xi\u2019an 710065, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"writing-review-editing","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Yuyu","family":"Zhang","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi University Engineering Research Center of Oil and Gas Field Chemistry, Xi\u2019an Petroleum University, Xi\u2019an 710065, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"formal-analysis","vocabulary":"credit"}]},{"given":"Shaocan","family":"Dong","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Pipeline and Civil Engineering, China University of Petroleum (East China), Qingdao 266580, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0003-2195-3575","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Yongfei","family":"Li","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Shaanxi University Engineering Research Center of Oil and Gas Field Chemistry, Xi\u2019an Petroleum University, Xi\u2019an 710065, China"}],"role":[{"vocabulary":"crossref","role":"author"},{"role":"investigation","vocabulary":"credit"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,9,10]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","unstructured":"Othman, A., Aljawad, M.S., Kalgaonkar, R., and Kamal, M.S. 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