Supercritical Fluid Technology In Materials Science And Engineering: Synthesis, Properties, And Applications

SUPERCRITICAL FLUID TECHNOLOGY IN MATERIALS SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING S Y N T H E S E S , P R O P E R T I E S , A N D A P P L I C AT I O N S EDITED BY YA-PING SUN Clemson University Clemson, South Carolina Marcel Dekker, Inc. TM Copyright 2002 by Marcel Dekker. All Rights Reserved. New York • Basel ISBN: 0-8247-0651-X This book is printed on acid-free paper. Headquarters Marcel Dekker, Inc. 270 Madison Avenue, New York, NY 10016 tel: 212-696-9000; fax: 212-685-4540 Eastern Hemisphere Distribution Marcel Dekker, Inc. Hutgasse 4, Postfach 812, CH-4001 Basel, Switzerland tel: 41-61-261-8482; fax: 41-61-261-8896 World Wide Web http://www.dekker.com The publisher offers discounts on this book when ordered in bulk quantities. For more information, write to Special Sales/Professional Marketing at the headquarters address above. Copyright © 2002 by Marcel Dekker, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Neither this book nor any part may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, microfilming, and recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher. Current printing (last digit): 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 PRINTED IN THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA Copyright 2002 by Marcel Dekker. All Rights Reserved. Preface Supercritical fluid technology has attracted the attention of both scientists and engineers. In the last 20 years or so, applications of supercritical fluid technology have been primarily in extraction and chromatography. Extensive experimental and theoretical investigations have been aimed toward an understanding of the properties of supercritical fluid systems, particularly intermolecular interactions (solute–solvent, solvent–solvent, and solute–solute) in supercritical fluid solutions. Recently, however, significant progress has been made in the use of supercritical fluids and mixtures as reaction media for chemical syntheses and polymer preparations and as alternative solvent systems for materials processing. In fact, materials-related applications have emerged as a new frontier in the development of supercritical fluid technology. I hope that this book will be a timely contribution to this emerging research field by serving at least two purposes. One is to provide interested readers with a rich source of information on the current status of supercritical fluid technology as related to materials research. The second is to stimulate more interest within the multidisciplinary supercritical fluid research community for the further development of the technology in materials-related applications. I would like to thank all the contributors. I also thank my students and postdoctoral associates; together we have had a lot of fun in the pursuit of many interesting and exciting projects in this research field. I am grateful for financial support from the National Science Foundation and the U.S. Department of Energy during my editing of this book. On a more personal note, I want to credit Professor Wen-Hsing Yen, on the occasion of his 95th birthday celebration, for introducing me to the world of chemical thermodynamics and the critical phenomenon, at Zhejiang University Copyright 2002 by Marcel Dekker. All Rights Reserved. in China many years ago. Credit is also due my postdoctoral mentor Professor Marye Anne Fox. It was her collaboration with Professor Keith Johnston at the University of Texas at Austin that introduced me to the field of supercritical fluid research. Ya-Ping Sun Copyright 2002 by Marcel Dekker. All Rights Reserved. Contents Prefac