Supercritical CO2 extraction in 2026: overview
Supercritical CO2 extraction uses carbon dioxide above its critical point as a tunable solvent. Its gas-like transport and liquid-like solvating behavior can extract oils and bioactives while avoiding residues from many conventional organic solvents; changing pressure, temperature or a co-solvent shifts what dissolves. That makes it useful where product purity, thermal sensitivity and solvent recovery matter, but scale-up still depends on feedstock variability, extraction kinetics and pressure equipment.
The field is moving from single-compound recovery toward integrated use of side streams and better control of selectivity. In August 2026, University of Valencia researchers paired supercritical CO2 with subcritical water to enrich phenolics from olive-mill sludge while tracking contaminants. In July 2026, US startup SCO2 raised seed funding to recover valuable compounds from food waste. These signals put process integration and waste-derived ingredients alongside plant oils; continuous-flow methods are gaining activity, while scale-up and reproducible product quality remain engineering tests.
- 1Flow over batch: Continuous-flow extraction grew 10.4% while batch extraction declined 40.0%, putting throughput and flow control in focus.
- 2Research holds steadier: Publication activity declined 7.4% while patent activity fell 48.2%, suggesting research output is contracting less sharply than patenting.
- 3Pharma gains momentum: Pharmaceutical and nutraceutical extraction is a relative growth pocket, while cosmetics and perfumery remain substantial application areas.
Top organizations working on supercritical CO2 extraction
Ranked by Linknovate activity score · last 24 monthsThe activity score adds up the relevance of every patent, publication, grant and news item linking an organization to supercritical CO2 extraction. Showing 7 of 760 organizations.
| # | Organization | Approach | Signals (24 mo) | Momentum | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 
Xi'an Jiaotong University
Research · China |
General | PUB 68 | +6% | Research includes supercritical CO₂ extraction of vitamin E from cereal bran, applying molecular simulations to understand the process and its potential for recovering value from agricultural residues. |
| 2 | 
Shanghai JiaoTong University
Research · China |
General | PUB 25 | -8% | Research applies supercritical CO₂ extraction to recover juglone from waste walnut husks, optimizing operating conditions for the recovery of this bioactive compound. |
| 3 | 
Dalian University of Technology
Research · China |
General | PUB 21 | +62% | Research includes supercritical CO₂ treatment to decolorize recycled PET pellets, alongside studies of CO₂-assisted film processing and nanopore oil displacement. |
| 4 | 
University of Campinas
Research · Brazil |
General | PAT 1 · PUB 16 | -30% | Research develops supercritical-fluid extraction methods for plant materials, evaluating extraction yield, kinetics, and chemical composition for bioactive compounds from leaves and seeds. |
| 5 | 1U
12579Southeast University
Research |
General | PUB 15 | -12% | |
| 6 | 
South China University of Technology
Research · China |
General | PUB 15 | -33% | |
| 7 | 
Kaunas University of Technology
Research · Lithuania |
General | PUB 14 | +33% | |
| 8 | ··Hidden organizationCompany | Approach | PAT 00 · PUB 00 GRANTS 0 · NEWS 00 | +00% | Available to registered users. |
| 9 | ··Hidden organizationCompany | Approach | PAT 00 · PUB 00 GRANTS 0 · NEWS 00 | +00% | Available to registered users. |
| 10 | ··Hidden organizationCompany | Approach | PAT 00 · PUB 00 GRANTS 0 · NEWS 00 | +00% | Available to registered users. |
Leading research centers
Leading research institutions 661 total
- Xi'an Jiaotong UniversityChinaResearch includes supercritical CO₂ extraction of vitamin E from cereal bran, applying molecular simulations to understand the process and its potential for recovering value from agricultural residues.
- Shanghai JiaoTong UniversityChinaResearch applies supercritical CO₂ extraction to recover juglone from waste walnut husks, optimizing operating conditions for the recovery of this bioactive compound.
- Dalian University of TechnologyChinaResearch includes supercritical CO₂ treatment to decolorize recycled PET pellets, alongside studies of CO₂-assisted film processing and nanopore oil displacement.
- ··Hidden research institutionCountryAvailable to registered users, with their key researchers.
- ··Hidden research institutionCountryAvailable to registered users, with their key researchers.
Where supercritical CO2 extraction innovation happens
Share of documents with at least one organization from each country.
Open the interactive map with all 760 organizationsMain technical approaches
Last 24 months| Approach | What it is | Documents | Leading organizations |
|---|---|---|---|
| Batch extraction | Loads material into a vessel for a fixed extraction cycle; it is straightforward to control but less suited to uninterrupted throughput. | 24 |
Dalhousie University, AKSO Marine Biotech Inc., Bhabha Atomic Research Center |
| Continuous-flow extraction | Feeds material and solvent continuously, supporting steady throughput but requiring careful control of residence time and flow distribution. | 242 |
North China Electric Power University, Xi'an Jiaotong University, University of Chinese Academy of Sciences |
| Co-solvent-assisted extraction | Adds a modifier such as ethanol to tune polarity and recover less CO2-soluble compounds, at the cost of added separation and solvent handling. | 106 |
Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile, Federico Santa María Technical University, Monterrey Institute of Technology |
| Selective fractionation | Separates compounds by adjusting operating conditions or staged collection; improved selectivity can add process complexity and validation demands. | 10 |
Kazan National Research Technological University, HCMC University of Technology, University of Dhaka |
Emerging trends
Last 12 months vs previous 36 monthsTerms whose frequency in the last 12 months grew the most compared with the previous 36 months.
Funding and investment
Recent funding rounds
FACTS reports $18,057,153 in grants across 16 awards since 2020. The separate funding-round total does not establish extraction-specific investment.
Patent landscape
Top patent holders · last 24 monthsRecent developments
Latest news, duplicates removed- Nov 2026Astadaily has become the first astaxanthin brand to receive the Clean Label Project Purity Award. The award recognises Astadaily Astaxanthin Pure following independent laboratory testing and comparison with other…Scientist Live
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- Sep 2026For most of our memories, CBD was a wellness pitch running well ahead itself and the evidence backing it up. But the gap is narrowing from both directions at once. Regulators are close to authorising the first CBD food…Intelligent Living
- Month 20XXHidden developmentAvailable to registered users with alerts enabled.
Frequently asked questions about supercritical CO2 extraction
Which universities and research centers lead supercritical CO2 extraction research?
Xi'an Jiaotong University leads the named research organizations with 68 documents in the 24-month window, followed by Shanghai JiaoTong University with 25 and Dalian University of Technology with 21. Their reported work includes vitamin E recovery from cereal bran, juglone extraction from walnut husks and treatment of recycled PET. These examples show activity across ingredients and materials processing.
How much funding has supercritical CO2 extraction received?
FACTS lists $18,057,153 in grants across 16 awards since 2020. This figure describes the grant data associated with the topic, rather than a verified total of all investment into extraction businesses. NEWS separately reports a July 2026 seed round for SCO2, a startup developing food-waste valorization using supercritical CO2.
Who holds the most supercritical CO2 extraction patents?
House Wellness Foods Corporation, Microphyt and SEOUL NATIONAL UNIVERSITY R&DB FOUNDATION each hold 3 listed patents, the highest count in the named patent-holder set. North Carolina State University, Saudi Aramco and Suez each have 2. These counts identify leading holders in the available list, not the full patent portfolios of each organization.
Is supercritical CO2 extraction patent activity growing?
Patent activity declined 48.2% in the defined last-12-month comparison, with 85 patents recorded in the 24-month window. Publication activity also declined, but by 7.4% in its last-year comparison. The different rates indicate a sharper contraction in patenting than in research publications; they do not establish why activity changed.
What are the latest developments in supercritical CO2 extraction?
In August 2026, University of Valencia researchers reported a sequential supercritical CO2 and subcritical-water workflow for olive-mill wastewater sludge, assessing phenolic enrichment and contaminant distribution. In July 2026, SCO2 announced seed funding to recover valuable compounds from food waste. Together, these developments point to interest in combining extraction steps and turning processing residues into ingredient sources.
What new methods or terms are emerging in supercritical CO2 extraction?
Continuous-flow extraction has 242 documents and grew 10.4% in the recent-versus-previous comparison, while selective fractionation grew 50.0% from a smaller base. Recent work also examines ultrasound-assisted extraction, sequential CO2 and subcritical-water processing, and scale-up criteria. These directions target throughput, compound selectivity and more consistent transfer from laboratory equipment to larger systems.
Which countries lead supercritical CO2 extraction?
China leads with 3,620 documents, or 31.3%, followed by the United States with 2,080, or 18.0%. India is next with 663 documents. The country figures show a strong concentration of activity in China and the United States, with research and development also present across Europe, Asia and the Americas.
What are the applications of supercritical CO2 extraction?
Pharmaceuticals and nutraceuticals lead the listed application facets with 303 documents and 27.8% growth in the recent-versus-previous comparison. Cosmetics and perfumery account for 186 documents, while food and beverage, cannabis and hemp, and environmental and analytical testing are also represented. Recent studies include extraction of plant oils, phenolics and aroma compounds.
Which supercritical CO2 extraction startups are the most promising in 2026?
SCO2 is the clearest named startup signal: it announced $2.65M in seed funding in July 2026 to recover valuable compounds from food waste. The available company data lists 5 startups overall, but does not name them or provide comparable traction measures. SCO2 therefore stands out in the supplied news, without enough evidence to rank it against other startups.