Dissolving biomolecules and modifying biomedical implants with supercritical carbon dioxide

Abstract

Abstract We describe two methodologies for dissolving ionic/polar species in scCO 2 . Both lead to a broadening of the range of applications for scCO 2 . Fluorinated surfactants may be used to prepare water in carbon dioxide microemulsions to allow solubilization of ionic and biological species. We outline also the preparation of scCO 2 soluble metal precursors that can be impregnated efficiently into polymeric substrates. Further processing by heat or UV light leads to metallic particles distributed throughout a polymer substrate. The clean synthesis of such composites can be applied to the development of improved medical implants.