Guar gum improved electrolyte compatibility. These changes in properties result in increased use in different fields, like textile printing, explosives, and oil-water fracturing applications. Guar molecules have a tendency to aggregate during the hydraulic fracturing process, mainly due to intermolecular hydrogen bonding. These aggregates are detrimental to oil recovery because they clog the fractures, restricting the flow of oil. Cross-linking guar polymer chains prevents aggregation by forming metal – hydroxyl complexes. The first crosslinked guar gels were developed in the late ‘60’s. Several metal additives have been used for crosslinking, among them are chromium, aluminum, antimony, zirconium, and the more commonly used,
Sol–gel process as monomers with protein friendly leaving groups (e.g. glycerol) and the inclusion of polymers which stabilize protein (e.g. PEG). Other products fabricated with this process include various ceramic membranes for microfiltration, ultrafiltration, nanofiltration, pervaporation, and reverse osmosis. If the liquid in a wet gel is removed under a supercritical condition, a highly porous and extremely low density material called aerogel is obtained. Drying the gel by means of low temperature treatments (25-100 °C), it is possible to obtain porous solid matrices called xerogels. In addition, a sol–gel process was developed in the 1950s for the production of radioactive powders of