Supercritical CO₂ – Advances in Green Chemistry

General Overview

• Replacement of conventional solvents with greener alternatives.
• Enhancement of mass transfer processes in reaction systems.
• Improvement of reaction efficiency and selectivity, while minimizing overall energy consumption.
• Simultaneous utilization of CO₂ as a reactant in certain chemical processes.

Physical and Chemical Characteristics

• Low surface tension.
• High molecular mobility.
• Low viscosity and high diffusivity.
• Density comparable to that of liquids.
• Solvent power easily tunable by adjusting temperature and pressure.
• Facilitates product separation, prolongs catalyst lifetime, enables catalyst recovery and reuse.

Environmental and Operational Advantages

• Abundant and inexpensive source.
• Inert and non-reactive toward most target compounds.
• Nonflammable and does not support combustion.
• Environmentally friendly – no emission of toxic or polluting substances.
• Nontoxic to humans and non-corrosive to equipment.
• Efficient solvent for solid and liquid organic compounds.
• Completely vaporizes without leaving harmful residues.