Supercritical Extraction Using Microfluidic System

Supercritical extraction can be applied for separation and purification of bioactive compounds in pharmaceutical and cosmetic fields. Recently, microfluidic system has been utilized for the supercritical extraction because of controllable mass and heat transfer. The flow patterns in the microfluidic system for supercritical CO2 + solvent mixture are also studied at various operation factors, such as temperature, pressure, flow rate and solvent species. This article gives the extraction of phenolic acids into supercritical CO2 from the aqueous solution using microfluid system. The effect of the flow patterns in the microfluid system on the extraction efficiency is also discussed. [supercritical extraction, phenolic acid, separation and purification, microfluidic system, slug flow]