This article reviews the use of fluids under supercritical conditions in processes related to the modern and innovative polymer industry. The most important processes using supercritical fluids are: extraction, particle formation, micronization, encapsulation, impregnation, polymerization and foaming. This review article briefly describes and characterizes the individual processes, with a focus on extraction, micronization, particle formation and encapsulation. The methods mentioned focus on modifications in the scope of conducting processes in a more ecological manner and showing higher quality efficiency. Nowadays, due to the growing trend of ecological solutions in the chemical industry, we see more and more advanced technological solutions. Less toxic fluids under supercritical conditions can be used as an ecological alternative to organic solvents widely used in the polymer industry. The use of supercritical conditions to conduct these processes creates new opportunities for obtaining materials and products with specialized applications, in particular in the medical, pharmacological, cosmetic and food industries, based on substances of natural sources. The considerations contained in this article are intended to increase the awareness of the need to change the existing techniques. In particular, the importance of using supercritical fluids in more industrial methods and for the development of already known processes, as well as creating new solutions with their use, should be emphasized.

This review article provides basic information about cannabis, its structure, and its impact on human development at the turn of the century. It also contains a brief description of the cultivation and application of these plants in the basic branches of the economy. This overview is also a comprehensive collection of information on the chemical composition of individual cannabis derivatives. It contains the characteristics of the chemical composition as well as the physicochemical and mechanical properties of hemp fibers, oil, extracts and wax, which is unique compared to other review articles. As one of the few articles, it approaches the topic in a holistic and evolutionary way, moving through the plant’s life cycle. Its important element is examples of the use of hemp derivatives in polymer composites based on thermoplastics, elastomers and duroplasts and the influence of these additives on their properties, which cannot be found in other review articles on this subject. It indicates possible directions for further technological development, with particular emphasis on the pro-ecological aspects of these plants. It indicates the gaps and possible research directions in basic knowledge on the use of hemp in elastomers.

Biodegradable and compostable polymers are sensitive to environmental factors. For this reason, they require stabilisers that inhibit ageing and degradation processes. Until now, synthetic stabilisers have been used in the polymer industry, but in recent years, in the era of environmentally friendly solutions, naturally occurring compounds have started to be used. It has become increasingly popular to create composites that are entirely of natural origin. An example of a natural stabiliser is hemp extract, which is presented and studied in this paper. It was applied to a polymer matrix made of polylactide. The samples were subjected to weathering and thermo-oxidative ageing, followed by infrared spectroscopic, spectrophotometric, static-mechanical and surface-free energy analyses. The results obtained confirm the validity of the assumption of an inhibitory ageing effect of hemp extract in the case of thermo-oxidative ageing and, very interestingly, of a catalytic effect in the case of weathering. Research on the use of this type of stabiliser in polymer composites is a scientific novelty that no one has investigated in polymer materials to date. This topic needs to be explored further due to the increasing interest and importance of hemp and its derivatives as materials and functional substances.