Patent ID: 7169857

Claim:
A process for producing homogenous blends of chemical agents and elastomeric fluoropolymers, comprising the steps of: combining, in the presence of a supercritical carbon dioxide, at least one fluoropolymer capable of expansion in the presence of said supercritical carbon dioxide, which includes at least one functional group distributed at one or more locations along its chemical backbone, with at least one chemical agent that forms a crystalline solid and which includes at least one functional group, that is capable of associating with said at least one functional group distributed at said one or more locations along the chemical backbone of said fluoropolymer, said combining step permits said at least one chemical agent to impregnate within said at least one fluoropolymer; permitting said at least one functional group on said at least one chemical agent to associate with said one functional group distributed at said one or more locations along the chemical backbone of said fluoropolymer, said permitting step producing a blend wherein said at least one fluoropolymer is associated with said at least one chemical agent at at least one of said one or more locations along the chemical backbone of said fluoropolymer and wherein said chemical agent is in crystalline form; agitating or masticating said blend so as to produce a free flowing powder comprised of particles including said chemical agent in its crystalline form associated with said at least one fluoropolymer; and separating said supercritical carbon dioxide from said blend after said permitting step.