An inorganic or organic liquid used as a vehicle for the preparation of solutions or suspensions in the manufacture of cannabis products.
A solvent (from the Latin solvō, "loosen, untie, solve") is a substance that dissolves a solute, resulting in a solution. A solvent is usually a liquid but can also be a solid, a gas, or a supercritical fluid. Water is a solvent for polar molecules, and the most common solvent used by living things; all the ions and proteins in a cell are dissolved in water within the cell.
Major uses of solvents are in paints, paint removers, inks, and dry cleaning. Specific uses for organic solvents are in dry cleaning (e.g. tetrachloroethylene); as paint thinners (toluene, turpentine); as nail polish removers and solvents of glue (acetone, methyl acetate, ethyl acetate); in spot removers (hexane, petrol ether); in detergents (citrus terpenes); and in perfumes (ethanol). Solvents find various applications in chemical, pharmaceutical, oil, and gas industries, including in chemical syntheses and purification processes
Some petrochemical solvents are highly toxic and emit volatile organic compounds. Biobased solvents are usually more expensive, but ideally less toxic and biodegradable. Biogenic raw materials usable for solvent production are for example lignocellulose, starch and sucrose, but also waste and byproducts from other industries (such as terpenes, vegetable oils and animal fats).
English
Etymology
From French solvent, from Latin solventem, accusative singular of solvens, present participle of solvō. By surface analysis, solv(e) + -ent.
Pronunciation
- (Received Pronunciation) IPA(key): /ˈsɒlvənt/
- (General American, without the cot–caught merger) IPA(key): /ˈsɔlvənt/
- (General American, cot–caught merger, dialects of Canada) IPA(key): /ˈsɑlvənt/
- (Canada, dialects of the US) IPA(key)
