PFA (Perfluoroalkoxy Alkane)

PFA (Perfluoroalkoxy Alkane)

Physical And Mechanical Properties

Perfluoroalkoxy resins are prepared by copolymerizing TFE and perfluoroalkyl monomers in aqueous or non-aqueous media. The temperature range of PFA melt is usually 300°C to 315°C (572°F to 599°F), depending on the content of PPVE. The crystallinity is usually 60%. Generally speaking, in the range of -200°C to +250°C (-328°F to +482°F), the mechanical properties of PFA are very similar to those of PTFE. The most significant difference between PTFE and PFA is that the latter has much lower resistance to deformation under load (cold flow).

Electrical Characteristics

PFA and MFA show better electrical properties than most traditional plastics. Compared to partially fluorinated polymers, they are only slightly affected by the maximum use temperature. In a wide temperature and frequency range (from 100 Hz to 1 GHz), the dielectric constant remains at 2.04.

Optical Properties

Generally, fluorocarbon films exhibit high transmittance in the ultraviolet, visible and infrared regions of the spectrum. This characteristic depends on the crystallinity and crystal morphology of the polymer. For example, a 0.025 mm thick PFA film can transmit more than 90% of visible light (wavelength 400 to 700 nm).

Chemical Properties

Even at high temperatures, PFA have excellent chemical resistance. They are resistant to strong inorganic acids, inorganic bases and inorganic oxidants, as well as most organic compounds and their mixtures commonly found in the chemical industry. However, they will react with fluorine and molten alkali. Perfluoropolymers generally have very low absorption of water and solvents. Permeability is closely related to absorption and depends on temperature, pressure and crystallinity.

Applications

• Perfluoroalkoxy resins can be made into high-temperature electrical insulation materials and components and parts that require long bending life.
• In the chemical industry, it is used for processing equipment, linings, special pipes and molded products.
• Other uses are the lining of bellows and expansion joints, valves, pipes, pumps and fittings.
• PFA resin can be processed into injection molded, blow molded and compression molded parts.
• High purity grades are used for demanding chemical applications in the semiconductor industry.
• PFA tubes can be used as capillaries in microreactor systems, which have been widely used in organic synthesis, catalysis and other chemical experiments. For example, PFA flexible polymer tubes of various inner diameters are used as the carrier of the photocatalyst.

Figure 1. Effect of the concentration of precursor suspension on the distribution of the catalytic layer [1]

Reference

1. Bruno Ramos, Shinichi Ookawara, Yoshihisa Matsushita, Shiro Yoshikawa, J. Environ. Chem. Eng. (2014) 2213-3437.

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