Current Treatments for COVID-19: Application of Supercritical Fluids in the Manufacturing of Oral and Pulmonary Formulations.

Even though more than two years have passed since the emergence of COVID-19, the research for novel or repositioned medicines from a natural source or chemically synthesized is still an unmet clinical need. In this review, the application of supercritical fluids to the development of novel or repurposed medicines for COVID-19 and their secondary bacterial complications will be discussed. We envision three main applications of the supercritical fluids in this field: (i) drug micronization, (ii) supercritical fluid extraction of bioactives and (iii) sterilization.

Deposition of Ni nanoparticles onto porous supports using supercritical CO2: effect of the precursor and reduction methodology.

The deposition of Ni nanoparticles into porous supports is very important in catalysis. In this paper, we explore the use of supercritical CO(2) (scCO(2)) as a green solvent to deposit Ni nanoparticles on mesoporous SiO2 SBA-15 and a carbon xerogel. The good transport properties of scCO(2) allowed the efficient penetration of metal precursors dissolved in scCO(2) within the pores of the support without damaging its structure.

Effect of supercritical CO2 in modified polystyrene 3D latex arrays.

The effect of supercritical CO(2) (scCO(2)) in 3D latex arrays formed by monodispersed particles of polystyrene (PS), PS cross-linked with divinylbenzene (PS-DVB), and PS block copolymers with 2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate (PS-HEMA), methacrylic acid (PS-MA), acrylic acid (PS-AA), itaconic acid (PS-IA), and a mixture of methacrylic and itaconic acid (PS-IA-MA) has been studied. Sorption of CO(2) into the polymer particles leads to a decrease in the glass transition temperature of the polymer and the swelling of the particles and induces their coalescence. 3D-latex arrays of the former compositions were treated in scCO(2) at temperatures and pressures ranging from 40 to 80 degrees C and from 85 to 197 bar, respectively.

Synthesis of ordered macroporous SiO2 in supercritical CO2 using 3D-latex array templates.

Ordered macroporous SiO(2) membranes were produced by the decomposition of silicon alkoxides in supercritical carbon dioxide (scCO(2)) using 3D-latex arrays as templates.