Polymer fraction, supercritical fluid

Several authors [3-9] studied the solubility of polymers in supercritical fluids due to research on fractionation of polymers. For solubility of SCF in polymers only limited number of experimental data are available till now [e.g. 4,5,10-12], Few data (for PEG S with molar mass up to 1000 g/mol) are available on the vapour-liquid phase equilibrium PEG -CO2 [13]. No data can be found on phase equilibrium solid-liquid for the binary PEG S -CO2. Experimental equipment and procedure for determination of phase equilibrium (vapour -liquid and solid -liquid) in the binary system PEG s -C02 are presented in [14]. It was found that the solubility of C02 in PEG is practically independent from the molecular mass of PEG and is influenced only by pressure and temperature of the system. 

Supercritical fluids can be used to induce phase separation. Addition of a light SCF to a polymer solvent solution was found to decrease the lower critical solution temperature for phase separation, in some cases by mote than 100°C (1,94). The potential to fractionate polyethylene (95) or accomplish a fractional crystallization (21), both induced by the addition of a supercritical antisolvent, has been proposed. In the latter technique, existence of a pressure eutectic ridge was described, similar to a temperature eutectic trough in a temperature-cooled crystallization. 

Puskas, J.E., Pattern, W.E., Wetmore, P.M., and Krukonis, A. Synthesis and characterization of novel six-arm star polyisobutylene-polystyrene block copolymers. Rubber Chem. TechnoL, 72, 559-568, 1999. Puskas, J.E., Wetmore, P.M., and Krukonis, A. Supercritical fluid fractionation of polyisobutylene-polystyrene block copolymers, Polym. Prepr., 40, 1037-1038, 1999. 

Supercritical fluids can be used to extract substances from natural products, as solvents or as anti-solvents to micronize drugs and biodegradable polymers, encapsulate drugs in polymeric matrices, resolve racemic mixtures of pharmacologically active compounds, fractionate mixtures of polymer and proteins, and sterilize bacterial organisms. 

Another important aspect of supercritical fluids application is in polymer fractionation, in order to obtain mono-dispersed molecular weights. The simulation of the fractionation of polyethylene from ethylene and hexane solutions into fractions of different molecular weights was proposed by Chen et al. [7]. 

Lopes JA, Gourgouillon D, Pereira PJ et al (2000) On the effect of polymer fractionation on phase equilibrium in C02 + poly(ethylene glycol)s systems. J Supercrit Fluids 16(3) 261-267... 

Highly stereoregular PMMA macromonomers, 14, prepared by Hatada and coworkers, have recently been fractionated by supercritical fluid chromatography into completely uniform fractions with no structural distribution [20,21]. They have been oligomerized with a radical (AIBN) or an anionic initiator (3,3-dimethyl-1,1-diphenylbutyllithium). After a new fractionation by SEC comb or star polymers of completely uniform architecture are obtained. No doubt, these samples will be most promising to investigate the branched structure-property relationship. 

SCF technology has spread quickly from molecules such as naphthalene to more complex substances such as polymers, biomolecules, and surfactants. Supercritical fluids can be used to reduce the lower critical solution temperature of polymer solutions in order to remove polymers from liquid solvents(6.26 The technology has been extended to induce crystallization of other substances besides polymers from liquids, and has been named gas recrystallization(4). In other important applications, SCF carbon dioxide has been used to accomplish challenging fractionations of poly(ethylene glycols) selectively based on molecular weight as discussed in this symposium, and of other polymers(. ... 

In general, synthetic polymers exhibit a wide molecular weight distribution. Their separation Into narrower molecular weight fractions is a fairly difficult task. Distillation Is not an effective separation technique for these materials because of their low vapor pressures. The solubility of different fractions of a parent polymer In conventional liquid solvents are normally too high which makes the liquid extraction a nonselective technique for these materials. Fractionation of polymers by using supercritical fluids presents unique advantages and has attracted the attention of several investigators in the past few years (1-5). 

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