Polymerizations in Liquid and Supercritical Carbon Dioxide

In the past few years, remarkable progress has been made in defining the scope and limitations of carbon dioxide (CO₂) as an inert polymerization medium. It has appear that CO₂ represents a viable solvent choice for a variety of propagation mechanisms including both chain growth and step growth polymerizations. When the environmental advantages of CO₂ are combined with its ability to be used as a solvent/dispersing medium for a wide variety of chemical reactions, it becomes clear that CO₂ may be the solvent of the future for the polymer industry. In addition, the design and synthesis of micelle-forming surfactants for CO₂ opens the doors for use of surfactant-modified CO₂ as the medium for heterogeneous polymerizations. This review will focus on the use of CO₂ as an inert solvent for the synthesis and processing of polymers.