Solubility of supercritical CO2 in polystyrene

Abstract

Expanded polystyrene (ePS) plays an important role in the food packaging industry. However, the foaming process is environmentally unfriendly. A sustainable alternative is dissolving supercritical CO₂ (scCO₂) in the polystyrene (PS) matrix. Most studies so far were performed at temperatures above the PS glass transition temperature; however, a more general temperature window is desirable. In this work, the solubility of scCO₂ in polystyrene was measured at 323 K, 343 K, 363 K and 383 K and pressure up to 130 bar using a magnetic suspension balance (MSB). It was concluded that the solubility of CO₂ in PS decreases with temperature and increases with pressure. The Sanchez-Lacombe Equation of State was utilized to estimate the degree of swelling. The model developed was able to derive the experimentally determined solubilities after correction for the swelling. The interaction parameter, k₁₂, turned out to be only a function of temperature. With these results the solubility and swelling of PS in scCO₂ can be more accurately assessed for different temperatures and pressures.