Solubility of polymers and copolymers in supercritical CO2

Cloud-point data to temperatures of 270 degrees C and 3000 bar are presented for CO2 with the family of poly(acrylates) including methyl, ethyl, propyl, butyl, ethylhexyl, and octadecyl, with poly(butyl methacrylate), with poly(vinyl acetate), with statistically random copolymers of poly(ethylene-co-methyl acrylate) with 41, 31, and 18 mol % acrylate, with poly(tetrafluoroethylene-co-hexafluoropropylene) and poly(vinylidene-co-hexafluoropropylene) copolymers, each with similar to 20 mol % hexafluoropropylene, and with Teflon AF. Over the same range of conditions, CO2 cannot dissolve polyethylene, poly(acrylic acid), poly(methyl methacrylate), poly(ethyl methacrylate), polystyrene, poly(vinyl fluoride), or poly(vinylidene fluoride). CO2 is a weak solvent that exhibits the temperature-sensitive characteristics observed with polar solvents. The solubility of a nonpolar hydrocarbon polymer or a copolymer in CO2 can be increased by at least partially fluorinating the polymer or by incorporating some polar groups into the backbone architecture of the polymer. Because it is such a weak solvent, CO2 can distinguish differences in polymer architecture even for polymers from the same chemical family, which means that polymer free volume plays a role in determining solubility.