Fluoropolymer solutions for ultra-high purity applications

Edlon® Fluoropolymer technologies is a Pfaudler brand which has been the industry’s Engineered Fluoropolymer experts for over 50 years providing products and solutions that save the industry money, time and keep the application safe.

Edlon® Fluoropolymer technologies offer leading-edge solutions for corrosion protection against the most aggressive chemicals known in the industry as well as solutions for ultra-high purity fluid management for applications that must have parts per trillion (ppt) ultra-high purity levels.

One of the areas where Edlon® technologies define the industry standard is in the field of ultra-high purity fluid management. For example, in Semiconductor and Opto-Electronic fabrication, the increasing complexity of the fabricated electronic devices and the continually increased demand of reduced dimensions of device features and defect densities, drives the demand for strict control of the purity of all chemicals involved in every step of the fabrication process. As a result, the electronic devices market is tending towards ever more stringent purity requirements and increasingly searches for ways to obtain ultra-high purity chemicals and requires strict control over the methods and equipment which are used in their production, transportation and storage.

Edlon® Pure-FusionTM Liners for Columns and Storage Tanks used in Production of Ultra-High Purity Acids.

Ultra-high purity mineral acids and bases form the core of wet fabrication processes. 

While the production of those chemicals is carried out using well established processes, demand for high purity necessitates careful control of material selection for linings and coatings used to passivate equipment such as distillation columns, condensers and heat exchangers as well as storage tank and makes it a central task for successful application. To produce such backbone chemicals with ppt purity levels means that Fluoropolymers materials will be the material of choice for construction.

What distinguishes Edlon® Fluoropolymer linings and coatings offering for columns and equipment is not only that lining material is fabricated from ultra-high purity resins, but also the employed Eldon® proprietary fabrication processes are ones which guarantee lining maintains its functionality and suitability for ultra-high purity. 

Of particular importance here is the type and quality of welded seams that must be used in fabricating bonded liners. Edlon® proprietary Pure-FusionTM seaming technology was developed to eliminate all issues associated with hand- and air-welds commonly encountered in the bonded and loose liners. Using unpigmented Fluoropolymer resins, Pure-FusionTM liners are machine-fabricated in a cleanroom environment resulting in Pure-FusionTM seams with high precision and reproducibility, superior surface finish and strength equivalent to that of the bulk Fluoropolymer liner.

Figure 1: shows one of a large number of a stainless steel storage tanks lined with Edlon® PTFM bonded liner with Pure-FusionTM Seaming Technology. Pfaudler design, fabricates and line all storage tanks for use in Ultra-High Purity applications.

Edlon® PFA Perfluoropolymer Engineered Coatings as the standard adopted for use with photoresist and etchant fluid management.

Chemicals used in the fabrication of electronic devices such as those used as cleaning and finishing agents for wafers, various lithographic patterning processes as well as chemicals for printed electronics are required to be produced with purity levels in the order of part per trillion. 

To maintain this high level of ultra-high purity, Fluoropolymers coated and lined equipment are used to contain and manage those fluids as they significantly reduce the level of metal cations leached into the chemicals from the surface of the containers. Trace impurities can heavily impact the performance of the material. For example, increasing quantities of metal cations contaminating the chemicals can lead to effect which include the catalytic decomposition of certain sensitive organic moieties within those chemicals.

To address those requirements, Edlon® specifically developed the unique PFA Perfluoropolymer formulation for an electrostatically applied thick coatings which is sought after by leading photoresist and etchant manufacturers. Both in-house and independent laboratory testing verified over the years that the PFA SC-7005TM coating system is unparalleled in its ability to maintain ppt concentrations of metal cations over the life time of the coating and is now the material of choice for reactors and tanks used in the production and storage of Ultra-High Purity chemicals.

Figure 2:  Total metal cation concentration in ultra-pure water contained in an Edlon® PFA SC-7005TM coted tank showing parts per trillion (ppt) levels.

In addition to these products, Edlon® designs and fabricates a range of customized Fluoropolymer products such as spargers, dip pipes and column internals.

Contact Pfaudler today to learn more.