Input of supercritical carbon dioxide to polymer synthesis: An overview

• Properties and interest of supercritical CO2 for the polymer field.
• Step-growth and chain growth polymers in scCO2.
• Heterogeneous polymerization in scCO2.
• Emulsion polymerization in scCO2.

The ongoing search for environmentally friendlier alternative to the organic solvents used in chemical processes has led to the development of technologies based on supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2), which is non-flammable, non-toxic and relatively inert fluid. Polymer chemistry does not escape this trend and last achievements in the field of polymer synthesis in scCO2 are reviewed here. Without claiming to be exhaustive, we go through and discuss the benefits of the main polymerization processes in scCO2 including homogeneous, precipitation, dispersion, suspension and emulsion systems. A particular attention is drawn to water/carbon dioxide emulsion polymerization and to the suited surface active agents. This review also underlines that heterogeneous polymerization based on CO2 is more than a strategy for reducing the ecological footprint of the polymer production but it allows structuring the polymer materials into particles or highly interconnected macroporous networks.

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