Polymer Processing with Supercritical Fluids

Supercritical fluids have a unique and valuable potential for the enhanced processing of many mate- rials. This review describes research in the applications of supercritical fluids to polymer processing. The ability of supercritical carbon dioxide to swell and plasticize polymers is crucial to the impregnation, extraction, and modification of polymeric materials. This plasticization also reduces viscosity and facilitates the processing of polymers due to lower shear stresses. Spectroscopy plays an important role in probing these interactions at a molecular level and to follow in situ the processes of CO 2 -induced plasticization and the crystallization of poly- mers. Opportunities exist for improving the processing of many polymeric-based materials ranging from textile to food and biomaterials. The implications of interactions between supercritical carbon dioxide and polymers for drying, dyeing, foaming and extrusion are also discussed with an outlook for further opportunities in this and related areas of polymer processing.

[1]  Mark A. McHugh,et al.  Supercritical Fluid Extraction: Principles and Practice , 1986 .

[2]  Gerd Brunner,et al.  Gas Extraction: An Introduction to Fundamentals of Supercritical Fluids and the Application to Separation Processes , 2001 .

[3]  David J. Williams,et al.  Introduction to Nonlinear Optical Effects in Molecules and Polymers , 1991 .

[4]  J. Brennecke,et al.  Supercritical fluid engineering science : fundamentals and applications , 1992 .

[5]  J. Colton.  The nucleation of microcellular thermoplastic foam , 1985 .

[6]  E. Schollmeyer,et al.  Dyeing of poly(ethylene terephthalate) fibers in supercritical carbon dioxide , 1996 .

[7]  Measurement and Modeling of Supercritical Fluid Extraction from Polymeric Matrices , 1995 .

[8]  Jean W. Tom,et al.  Preparation of Microparticulates Using Supercritical Fluids , 1996 .

[9]  Walter Leitner,et al.  Chemical synthesis using supercritical fluids , 1999 .

[10]  K. Kobe.  The properties of gases and liquids , 1959 .

[11]  Brian J. Briscoe,et al.  In-situ spectroscopy of polymers processed with supercritical carbon dioxide , 1999, Atomic and Molecular Spectroscopy.

[12]  Kenneth R. Hall,et al.  An algebraic method that includes Gibbs minimization for performing phase equilibrium calculations for any number of components or phases , 2003 .

[13]  P. D. Coates,et al.  Polymer Process Engineering 99 , 1999 .

[14]  J. DeSimone,et al.  Polymerizations in Dense Carbon Dioxide , 2007 .

[15]  J. Dean.  Extraction methods for environmental analysis , 1998 .

[16]  Neil R. Foster,et al.  Innovations in Supercritical Fluids: Science and Technology , 1995 .

[17]  Eric A. Grulke,et al.  Polymer Process Engineering , 1994 .

[18]  I. Marlowe,et al.  Reduction of volatile organic compound emissions from industrial coating and impregnation of wooden surfaces , 1994 .

[19]  A. D. Shine.  Polymers and Supercritical Fluids , 2007 .

[20]  E. Kiran,et al.  Viscosity of Polymer Solutions in Near-Critical and Supercritical Fluids: Polystyrene andn-Butane , 1992 .