Supercritical Fluids: A Promising Technique in Pharmaceutics

The unique properties of supercritical carbon dioxide provide numerous opportunities for developing environmentally friendly pharmaceutical processes. The applications of supercritical carbon dioxide range from particle engineering to encapsulation to biopolymeric scaffold manufacturing. Moreover, the tunable nature of supercritical carbon dioxide can also impart interesting properties in the final product that may not be possible via any other conventional process. This chapter aims to provide an overview of the available processes and techniques according to the role of supercritical carbon dioxide and how can those be applied in pharmaceutical research and development and manufacturing. The application of supercritical carbon dioxide as solvent, antisolvent and solute/additive is discussed along with examples to highlight advancements in this field and how pharmaceutical manufacturing could benefit from moving to a greener and cleaner processing technique that is environmentally sustainable.