Experimental study and thermodynamic modeling of Esomeprazole (proton-pump inhibitor drug for stomach acid reduction) solubility in supercritical carbon dioxide

[Display omitted] •Solubility of Esomeprazole (a proton-pump inhibitor drug) in SC−CO2 was measured for the first time.•Temperature and pressure ranges of 308.2–338.2 K & 12–27 MPa were investigated.•Experimental data was correlated by semiempirical models.•Experimental data was also correlated by PR and SRK EoSs models with different modeling plans.•A criterion for cubic EoSs in SCF and a methodology for prediction of Ps of solute was proposed. Production of micro- and nano-sized particles through supercritical fluid (SCF) technology needs substantial measurements of solubility data. In this work, for the first time, solubility of Esomeprazole (ESM) in supercritical carbon dioxide (SC−CO2) was determined at pressures and temperatures ranging within 12–27 MPa and 308.2–338.2 K, respectively. Under the applied conditions, mole fractions were obtained in the range of 1.11 × 10−5 to 9.10 × 10−4 . For correlating the drug solubility, six semi-empirical models and two equations of state (EoSs), with different modeling plans, were utilized. Furthermore, sublimation pressure of the solute was calculated by two different approaches: a predictive model and data fitting. Results showed high accuracy of Soave-Redlich-Kwong EoS combined with Renon mixing rule using the second approach. The results were further employed to derive a criterion for application of cubic EoSs in SCF as well as a methodology for prediction of Psub to 9.10 × 10−4