Chemistry
Supercritical Fluid Extraction in Green Analytical Chemistry
Quick fact
Supercritical CO2 is non-toxic, non-flammable, and can be recycled, making it a 'green' solvent that has been used since the 1970s to decaffeinate coffee without leaving toxic residues.
Why this is interesting
What if you could 'tune' a solvent to dissolve exactly what you need, then make it disappear without a trace? That's the promise of supercritical fluid extraction, a technique that turns coffee decaffeination and environmental analysis green.