Title: Clean and dry processing of polymer materials in supercritical fluids
Abstract:
Organic solvent-based polymer manufacturing enterprises are currently suffering from several challenges concerning economic burden, safety dangers, and employee health hazards. International environmental advocacy organizations have been urging the polymer manufacturers to adopt the clean and dry manufacturing practices for effective reduction in pollution caused by toxic emissions from industries. This has been in attempt to mitigate the adverse effects resulting from hazardous organic solvents and certain greenhouse gases linked to conventional polymer manufacturing processes. The current lecture focuses on applications of supercritical fluids (SCFs) as an inexpensive and environmentally benign alternative to traditional organic solvents employed in production of polymer materials. SCFs refer to the state of matter that exists above the critical point of fluids, where the boundaries between the liquid and gas phases no longer exist. The distinctive environmentally friendly characteristics, combined with gas-like diffusivity and pressure tunable solvation properties, enable SCFs to function as an environmentally benign media for development of a broad range of polymer processes.The lecture will emphasise the success of SCFs in delivering the clean and dry method of production of polymer composites, blends, biocomposites, nanocomposites, functional nanostructures, sustained delivery systems, dyed polymer products and bioenergy. The economic aspects, market potential, and entrepreneurial opportunities related to SCF-mediated polymer processes will be discussed.
