The Howdle Group
Polymers & Supercritical Fluids
The group's interests lie in the use of supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO2) as a new solvent for polymer synthesis and materials processing.
This is an exciting area that has led to collaboration with many other disciplines, including chemical engineers, biotechnologists, physicists and clinicians. We also work closely with a wide range of colleagues from industry.
In all cases we explore areas where the use of supercritical fluids opens up new opportunities that would not be accessible using more conventional techniques.
Supercritical CO2
Supercritical CO2 (scCO2) is a dense fluid which combines the properties of both a liquid and a gas. Supercritical conditions are achieved at a temperature above 31.1 oC and a pressure of 73.8 bar, leading to a unique low viscosity environment for polymerisations and new processing opportunities. Check out the video below to see how it works.