Crystallization of all trans-β-carotene by supercritical carbon dioxide antisolvent via co-axial nozzle

The crystallization of β-carotene through supercritical antisolvent process with carbon dioxide (CO₂) as an antisolvent has been demonstrated. The experiments were conducted at temperatures of 40 - 60^o C and pressures of 10 - 14 MPa at a constant CO₂ flow rate. As a starting material, β-carotene powder was dissolved in dichloromethane (DCM). Results of UV-vis spectrophotometry and GC-MS analysis showed that there was no remaining DCM solvent in the β-carotene particles products. It showed that CO₂ has successfully removed DCM from β-carotene particles products. The product characterization by using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and X-ray diffraction (XRD) showed that the CO₂ solvent did not impregnate to the β-carotene particles products. Results from scanning electron microscope (SEM) images showed that the β-carotene particles products were successfully prepared in plate-like shape morphologies with size around 1 μm.