Cleaning process using carbon dioxide as a solvent and employing molecularly engineered surfactants

US5944996A · kind A · utility

Assignee

• The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill · US

Inventors

• Joseph M. DeSimone · Monte Sereno, US
• Timothy J. Romack · Durham, US
• Douglas E. Betts · Chapel Hill, US
• James B. McClain · Raleigh, US

Key dates

• Filing date: May 2, 1997
• Grant date: Aug 31, 1999
• Expiry date: May 2, 2017

Classification

• Technology area (CPC C): Chemistry; Metallurgy
• CPC primary: C11D2111/20
• WIPO field: Basic materials chemistry
• WIPO sector: Chemistry

Abstract

The separation of a contaminant from a substrate that carries the contaminant is disclosed. The process comprises contacting the substrate to a carbon dioxide fluid containing an amphiphilic species so that the contaminant associates with the amphiphilic species and becomes entrained in the carbon dioxide fluid. The substrate is then separated from the carbon dioxide fluid, and then the contaminant is separated from the carbon dioxide fluid.