Solubility measurement of polyethylene glycol polymers in supercritical carbon dioxide at high pressures and temperatures

Solubility and its measurement of different materials including polymers, drugs, proteins, peptides and many other organic or non organic compounds in supercritical fluids are of great importance in a wide variety of applications. These applications include: production of controlled drug delivery systems, powder processing, pollution prevention, spraying paints and coatings, and food processing.

Supercritical Fluids are fetting more interest since the last two decades due to their abilities in replacing VOC solvents, and because of their tunable properties that could be achieved by varying their pressure and temperature in getting powerful solvents. Supercritical fluid is a substance under pressure absove its critical temperature. Under supercritical conditions the distinction between gases and liquids does not apply and substance can only be described as a fluid. Supercritical fluids have properties intermediate between those of gases and liquids, controlled by the pressure. They do not condense or evaporate to form a liquid or a gas. Fluids such as supercritical carbon dioxide offer a range of unusual chemical possibilities in both synthetic and analytical chemistry. Supercritical fluids have solvent power similar to a light hydrocarbon for most solutes.