Supercritical Fluid Drying
permeability comparable to glass matrix, high porosity.
Useful as heat or acoustic insulation material
- Drying without vaporization
- No volume expansion from phase change
- No destruction of minute holes in silica gel
- Reactions in CO2-swollen matrix to create composite materials
- Controlled depressurization renders dense composites
- Rapid pressure quenches yield expanded (microcellular foam) materials.
Thomas McCarthy http://www.pse.umass.edu/faculty/mccarthy.html