Patent ID: 8647513

Claim:
A method for collecting crude oil with modified clay, comprising: providing a clay and a poly(oxypropylene)-diamine having a molecular weight of about 2,000 g/mol; acidifying the poly(oxypropylene)-diamine with an acid to obtain acidified poly(oxypropylene)-diamine; intercalating the clay with the acidified poly(oxypropylene)-diamine to obtain a modified clay, wherein the ratio of the cation exchange equivalents (CEE) of the poly(oxypropylene)-diamine to the clay is about 0.42; and mixing a mixture containing water and crude oil with the modified clay, wherein the clay is montmorillonite (MMT) having a cation exchange capacity (CEC) ranging between 50 meq/100 g and 200 meq/100 g.