EFFECT OF ENTRAINERS AND OF SOLUTE SIZE AND POLARITY IN SUPERCRITICAL-FLUID SOLUTIONS

New experimental data are presented for the solubility of several soli d solutes and solute mixtures in entrainer-doped supercritical fluid c arbon dioxide. These results, along with others from the literature, a re used to demonstrate the effects of solute size (appreciable) and so lute polarity (small) in pure supercritical fluids. Solvent effects ap pear to be far more important than solute structure, and polar and hyd rogen-bonding entrainers exhibit large effects on both solute loading and selectivity. Thus, it appears that entrainers can be used to tailo r supercritical fluid solvents for specific applications.