Supercritical carbon dioxide technology materials

Supercritical carbon dioxide (SCCO2) is a well-estabhshed solvent for applications in extraction processes. During the last 40 years, there has been an implementation of large-scale processes, e.g., the extraction of caffeine [6] and the isolation of hop extracts from raw plant material [37]. These examples show that the usage of this supercritical fluid (pc = 73.8 bar, Tc = 31.1 °C) is a state of the art operation in process technology. 

In this special volume on polymer particles, recent trends and developments in the synthesis of nano- to micron-sized polymer particles by radical polymerization of vinyl monomers in environmentally friendly heterogeneous aqueous and supercritical carbon dioxide fluid media are reviewed by prominent worldwide researchers. Polymer particles are prepared extensively as synthetic emulsions and latexes, which are applied as binders in the industrial fields of paint, paper and inks, and films such as adhesives and coating materials. Considerable attention has recently been directed towards aqueous dispersed systems due to the increased awareness of environmental issues. Moreover, such polymer particles have already been applied to more advanced fields such as bio-, information, and electronic technologies. In addition to the obvious commercial importance of these techniques, it is of fundamental scientific interest to completely elucidate the mechanistic details of macromolecule synthesis in the microreactors that the polymer particles in these heterogeneous systems constitute. 

Herkley C. Homogeneous catalysis in supercritical carbon dioxide. In Sun Y-P, ed. Supercritical Fluid Technology in Materials Science and Engineering. New York Marcel Dekker, 2002 189-226. 

Supercritical fluids can be applied to remove polluting materials from the environment. Theory and practice of this technology is of increasing interest at the present time. In Supercritical fluids and reductions in environmental pollution by Koji Yamanaka and Hitoshi Ohtaki focus their attention to start with the thermodynamics and structure of supercritical fluids and then describe the supercritical water oxidation process, the extraction of pollutant from soils with supercritical carbon dioxide and other supercritical fluids, and recycle of used plastic bottles with supercritical methanol. Andrew I. Cooper et al. report on Supercritical carbon dioxide as a green solvent for... 

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