AUTOMATION OF SUPERCRITICAL-FLUID EXTRACTION

Supercritical fluid extraction (SFE) is becoming an increasingly popul ar method for extraction of organic chemicals from different matrices. The SFE method decreases solvent use and extraction time compared to corresponding traditional extraction methods. Automating a SFE instrum ent would significantly increase throughput with decreased labor by us ing the instrument 24 hours a day. By modifying a commercially availab le laboratory robotics system and a SFE instrument, we successfully au tomated the SFE of pesticides from different environmentally related m atrices with increased sample throughput and decreased labor.