Specific Interactions in Carbon Dioxide + Polymer Systems Anupama Kasturirangan 163 Pages Directed by Dr. Amyn S. Teja Weak complex formation in CO2 + polymer and CO2 + copolymer systems containing C=O and C-F groups was quantified using in situ FTIR spectroscopy. The enthalpy of interaction thus obtained was directly incorporated into a lattice model and compressibility effects were accounted for via ratio of free volumes in modified segment number. CO2 + fluropolymer phase behavior could be correlated within experimental error (AAD of about 2%) using the new model, a task that has been beyond the capability of published models and it was also possible to predict phase equilibria of CO2 + PLGA copolymer systems with a single parameter obtained by fitting cloud point behavior in a reference system (CO2 + PLA in this case).New data on sorption equilibria in several CO2 + PLGA systems were obtained using a quartz crystal microbalance (QCM) and new data on Tg depression in the CO2 + PLA system were also obtained using a high pressure DSC method and used to demonstarte that model parameters are valid over extended pressure ranges. The new compressible lattice model developed is thus able to correlate cloud points, sorption equilibria, glass transition temperatures, and melting points using a single parameter. The model is therefore likely to be beneficial in many applications involving CO2 + polymer systems including drug delivery and encapsulation, polymer coating, and membranes for natural gas separations.