Interfacial tension, polymers/supercritical

Of these featores, the pressure-dependence of SCF properties dominates or influences virtually every process conducted on polymers. Pressure governs such properties as density, solubility parameter, and dielectric constant changes of more than an order of magnitude are common when pressure is sufficiently increased to transform a gas into a supercritical fluid. This chapter primarily compiles experimental data on the pressure dependence of physical properties of fluid phase polymer-SCF mixtures. Phase equilibria are addressed, including the solubility of polymers in SCFs, the solubility of SCFs in liquid polymers, and the three-phase solid-fluid-fluid equilibria of crystalline polymers saturated with SCFs. Additional thermodynamic properties include glass transition temperature depressions of polymers, and interfacial tension between SCF-swollen polymers and the SCF. The viscosity of fluid phase polymer-SCF mixtures is also treated. 

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