Is there a more environmentally friendly alternative to PTFE (teflon) for lab applications?
PTFE is common in labs, since it's rather inert making it a good 'general purpose' plastic. However there are a lot of health- & sustainability issues caused by it. Is there any alternative for it? A less problematic plastic that could be used as a 'general purpose' coating material for stirrers etc?
I know there is no such thing as an ALL purpose material, since chemistry is a game of rock-paper-scissors. But where should I look for an environmentally friendly plastic resistant that could replace PTFE coatings in some applications in strong non-polar solvents, acidic or alkaline, generally corrosive or oxidising environments found in entry level university chemistry?
This is just curiosity from an AP-chemistry student.
Best regards
Andreé Brink:
The first candidate came to my mind was polyvinylidene fluoride (PVdF).
Dear all, polyolefins such HDPE may be a candidate if temperature is not too high. My Regards
PVDF is very good candidate, but it may dissolve in some solvents like commonly used DMF.
PE is cheap and easy to work with.
I think the cheapest one and probably the most suitable will be PP - polypropylene. Even syringes and the highly resistant filters are made of it.
- Badges
- Science topic
- Similar topics
- Engineering
- Materials Engineering
- Coating