Scanning ion conductance microscopy (SICM), an electrochemical scanning probe microscopy (SPM), has been used for the first time to generate topographical images of reservoir rock analogues for oil and gas recovery applications. Validation of these images was provided by low-vacuum scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and atomic force microscopy (AFM). Low-vacuum SEM micrographs provided the wider field of view required to understand the context of the smaller SICM images, in addition to showcasing the heterogeneity of these materials. Ketton, Estaillades and Indiana, three carbonate outcrop rocks, were found to have six, four and five distinct surface types respectively. These classifications provided an invaluable framework for the SICM validation in this work. AFM has previously provided maps of outcrop rocks in the literature, and as such was utilised here to provide a comparison of feature heights for validation of the SICM images. It was ultimately concluded that SICM was a better-suited SPM than AFM for these materials, due to the slower scan speeds, greater hop heights and longer probes.

SICM was also found to be a suitable tool for the mapping of materials which had been exposed to crude oil, despite the images being less well-resolved than for the unaltered surfaces. The blurring present in these images is proposed to be the result of partial crude oil removal by the electrolyte, however the feature shapes and sizes were aligned with what was observed in the low-vacuum SEM micrographs, so were deemed to be a success.

There is potential for surface charge mapping on the SICM to provide added value to oil and gas recovery research; preliminary topographical mapping work towards surface charge mapping of outcrop rocks in both aqueous and organic solvents is presented, along with considerations for future work with additives to probe condition-dependant surface charge behaviours.