Cross disciplinary application of supercritical extraction technology in life sciences, chemical materials and other interdisciplinary fields

2025-03-12 13:54:03

1. In the field of life sciences

Drug development and pharmaceutical engineering: Supercritical extraction instruments can be used to extract active ingredients such as paclitaxel and artemisinin from natural plants, animal tissues, etc., providing raw materials for new drug development. At the same time, in the pharmaceutical process, impurities and harmful ingredients can be removed, drug purity and quality can be improved, and toxic side effects can be reduced, which closely intersects with professional directions such as pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology, and pharmaceutical engineering.

Research on bioactive substances and biotechnology: This instrument can extract bioactive substances such as proteins, enzymes, vitamins, polysaccharides, etc., which helps to study their structure, function, and mechanism of action, and develop related biological products. For example, using supercritical extraction to extract enzymes from microbial fermentation broth, combined with specialties such as biochemistry and biotechnology. Food nutrition and health: Nutrients and functional components can be extracted from food raw materials, such as unsaturated fatty acids extracted from fish oil, natural antioxidants extracted from fruits and vegetables, etc., for the development of nutritional supplements and functional foods. They can also be used in the processing of food such as detoxification and decolorization, intersecting with the direction of food science and nutrition.

2. Chemical industry field

Fine Chemicals: Supercritical extraction instruments are widely used in the extraction and purification of fine chemicals such as spices and pigments. For example, extracting rose essential oil from rose petals and lutein from marigolds yields products with high purity and good quality, which are related to professional fields such as spice chemistry and pigment chemistry. Chemical Engineering and Process: As an advanced separation technology, supercritical extraction can be used to separate mixtures with similar boiling points and strong thermal sensitivity, improve the efficiency and product quality of chemical production, optimize chemical process flow, and deeply intersect with professional directions such as chemical process strengthening and separation engineering. Energy and Chemical Engineering: It can be applied to extract effective components from fossil fuels such as coal and oil shale, such as extracting aromatic compounds such as benzene and toluene from coal. It can also be used for the preparation of renewable energy such as biodiesel, providing new technological means for the field of energy and chemical engineering, and intersecting with majors such as energy chemistry and coal chemical engineering.

3. Materials field

Polymer materials: can be used to remove unreacted monomers, catalyst residues, and impurities such as low molecular weight polymers during the synthesis process of polymer materials, improve the performance and stability of polymer materials, and can also be used for surface modification and functionalization of polymer materials. It is closely related to professional directions such as polymer materials and engineering, material synthesis and processing. Nanomaterials: can be used for the preparation and post-treatment of nanomaterials, such as removing impurities and organic matter on the surface of nanoparticles through supercritical extraction, improving the dispersibility and properties of nanomaterials, and can also be used for the preparation of nanocomposites, etc. It intersects with disciplines such as nanomaterials and technology, material physics, etc. Composite materials: In the research and development of composite materials, supercritical extraction can be used to analyze the composition and structure of different phases in composite materials, remove impurities and improve interfacial properties, and enhance the comprehensive performance of composite materials. It has a certain intersection with professional directions such as composite materials and engineering, material interface science, etc.

4. Other professional directions

Environmental Science and Engineering: Supercritical extraction technology can be used to treat toxic and harmful substances in sewage and solid waste, such as using supercritical carbon dioxide extraction to remove organic pollutants from soil, recovering heavy metals from industrial wastewater, etc. It can also be used for waste gas treatment and resource recovery, providing a green and efficient technical means for environmental protection, and intersecting with majors such as environmental engineering and environmental chemistry.

Analytical Chemistry: As a sample pretreatment method in analytical chemistry, supercritical extraction can be combined with analytical instruments such as chromatography and mass spectrometry to improve the sensitivity and accuracy of analytical methods. It is used for the pretreatment and analysis of complex samples in fields such as environmental monitoring, food safety testing, and drug analysis, and is closely integrated with professional directions such as instrument analysis and chemometrics. Agricultural Science: In the field of agriculture, supercritical extraction technology can be used for deep processing and quality testing of agricultural products, such as extracting natural antioxidants from agricultural products, detecting pesticide residues, etc. It can also be used for the resource utilization of agricultural waste, providing technical support for agricultural modernization, and has certain intersections with professional directions such as agricultural resource utilization and agricultural product processing.