Supercritical fluids in environmental remediation and pollution prevention
- Texas A&M Univ., College Station, TX (United States)
During the last decade use of supercritical fluids in environmental applications have increased due to their unique properties. Technologies have already developed for extraction of organic compounds from aqueous and solid environmental matrices and research on extraction of metals is in progress. In most applications, supercritical carbon dioxide is the solvent of choice because it is environmentally benign, safe, and abundant at a low cost. A more recent research focus is on use of supercritical fluids as solvents and reaction media. Especially as the reaction media, supercritical fluids have offer properties that may significantly affect reaction selectivities. The most important property is the control of solvency power through density. This aspect may be used to eliminate side reactions, exceed thermodynamic yield limitations, or control polymer chain lengths and molecular weight distributions. Fundamental aspects of these applications with specific examples will be presented.
- OSTI ID:
- 370590
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-960376--
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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