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Article: Making Fibers Softer and More Absorbent.(using supercritical carbon dioxide)(Brief Article)
- Article from:
- USA TODAY
- Article date:
- June 1, 1999
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1999 Society for the Advancement of Education. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Researchers at Ohio State University, Columbus, have found that a supercritical fluid form of carbon dioxide could deposit a chemical additive into a sheet of polymer fibers to make the material more absorbent. Supercritical carbon dioxide is composed of [CO.sub.2] molecules heated under pressure and held in a state somewhere between a liquid and a gas. The supercritical carbon dioxide carries additives deep into materials like cloth, plastic, and paper, just as hazardous organic solvents do, but without diminishing the material's appearance or strength and without creating hazardous by-products.
The researchers drove supercritical carbon dioxide into a polymer, ...