Partitioning of organic biocides between wood and supercritical carbon dioxide

The degree of interaction between selected organic biocides (tebuconazole, propiconazole, and IPBC) and wood under supercritical conditions was investigated using a supercritical fluid chromatograph. The biocides were carried through a sawdust column by CO2 at various conditions. Retention times differed markedly both between the examined biocides and between physical conditions. Tebuconazole showed a higher affinity for wood than the other biocides. For all biocides, wood affinity was highest and, thus, fluid affinity lowest, at lowest pressures.