Supercritic CO2 as an extraction solvent

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SUMMARY

The discussion focuses on the use of supercritical CO2 as an extraction solvent, specifically for caffeine extraction from tea. It highlights the challenges of achieving the necessary high pressure and low temperature to maintain liquid CO2. The conversation also addresses the inadequacy of liquid nitrogen as a substitute for CO2, emphasizing that CO2's effectiveness as an organic solvent is not solely due to its low temperature. Additionally, the use of CO2 snow for cleaning micro-electronic chips is mentioned, although the high cost of the equipment poses a barrier for laboratories.

PREREQUISITES
  • Understanding of supercritical fluid extraction techniques
  • Knowledge of CO2 phase behavior under varying pressure and temperature
  • Familiarity with organic solvents and their applications
  • Basic principles of micro-electronic chip cleaning methods
NEXT STEPS
  • Research supercritical CO2 extraction methods and their applications
  • Explore the phase diagram of CO2 to understand its liquid and supercritical states
  • Investigate alternative organic solvents for extraction processes
  • Learn about CO2 snow cleaning technology and its industrial applications
USEFUL FOR

Chemists, extraction specialists, and professionals in the electronics manufacturing industry will benefit from this discussion, particularly those interested in solvent extraction techniques and micro-electronic chip cleaning methods.

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Last semester we extracted caffeine from tea with CH2Cl2 and we were told it's possible to do the same thing with liquid CO2. This is interesting but pretty hard to do since you need high pressure/low temp in order to get liquid CO2. My question is: would it be possible to use liquid nitrogen instead of CO2 to do the same thing?
 
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I'm pretty sure liquid N2 won't work anywhere near as well as liq. CO2.

The reason the CO2 is used is because it is a great organic solvent, not because it is a cold liquid. The problem of the liquid CO2 can be partially overcome by what is commonly known as CO2 snow. CO2 snow is used with great success in removing organic matter from micro-electronic chips. My lab considered buying this equipment for cleaning the chips we make, but the things are so @#$*^%& expensive !

For more on this, simply Google "CO2 cleaning".
 

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