Abstract
Supercritical carbon dioxide deserves much attention as a sustainable solvent, potentially alternative to volatile organic solvents. It has been reported that numerous polymerizations can be carried out in supercritical carbon dioxide, despite of the limited solublity of polymeric materials. The article reviews the polymerizations in supercritical carbon dioxide which are classified into three categories: 1) chain-growth polymerizations; 2) step-growth polymerizations; 3) copolymerizations with carbon dioxide in supercritical carbon dioxide. It turned out that many radical polymerizations can be carried out in supercritical carbon dioxide with or without surfactants. Melt-polycondensations are also applicable in supercritical carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide plays a role not only as a solvent but also as a reactive monomer in some polymerization reactions.

Keywords:
Supercritical carbon dioxide, Chain-growth polymerization, Step-growth polymerization, Solubility, Surfactant

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