Impregnation of Materials in Supercritical CO2 to Impart Various Functionalities

Abstract

Supercritical CO 2 (scCO 2 ) impregnation has attracted growing interest due to its unique properties such as high diffusivity, low surface tension, and ease of solvent removal at the end of the process. In addition, scCO 2 is the most environmentally acceptable solvent possessing many advantages compared with the conventional aqueous and solvent-based processing. scCO 2 impregnation has a wide range of applications mainly used to incorporate various active principles such as pharmaceuticals, functional finishing agents, colorants, and other agents into a polymeric matrix. This chapter reviews some studies carried out so far about the application of scCO 2 as impregnation medium to develop various functional materials and it is intended to stimulate further research into the application of scCO 2 to textile functionalization. It mainly focuses on applications related to textiles and some polymeric films.