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Viton™ Fluoroelastomers for Food and Pharma
Viton™ Fluoroelastomers for Pharma, Food, and Beverage Applications
Viton™ FKM fluoroelastomers, a brand of the Chemours company, offer outstanding durability, flexibility, resistance, and consistency for a multitude of elastomer applications and industries.
Chemours FKM fluoroelastomers are excellent for use in food, beverage, and pharmaceutical processing applications. While EPDM and silicones are often used in such applications, they have a low resistance to cleaning fluids and exhibit relatively poor steam resistance. Advanced Polymer Architecture (APA) polymers combine superior performance to steam, elevated temperatures, and resistance to many commercial cleaning fluids.
Viton™ GF-600S and Viton™ Extreme™ ETP-600S are two specialty FKM grades manufactured with Advanced Polymer Architecture (APA) that provide a new level of performance.
In applications where FDA repeat use for food contact compliance is required, these additives provide excellent performance. This includes seals, O-rings, and gaskets used in manufacturing pharmaceutical, food, and beverage applications. In addition, they both offer outstanding resistance to chemical exposure, sterilization steam, processing, sealing capabilities, and cleaning chemicals compared to other sealing materials.
Viton™ GF-600S is a high fluorine, peroxide-cured fluoroelastomer that offers superior steam resistance, excellent compression set, and outstanding chemical resistance to aromatic hydrocarbons, alcohols, water, steam, and acids. It provides superior high-temperature performance in comparison to traditional FKMs and bisphenol-cured dipolymers.
Viton™ GF-600S is FDA compliant with limitations for repeat-use applications as O-rings, seals, and gaskets, used in the manufacturing of food and beverages as outlined in Food Contact Notification (FCN) 510.
Viton™ Extreme™ ETP-600S is an outstanding fluoroelastomer that offers excellent resistance to hydrocarbons, acids, bases, alcohols, ketones, esters, and many other solvents. Parts made with Extreme™ ETP-600S are also highly resistant to steam and extreme process conditions, high temperature, and exhibit excellent compression sets and physical properties.
Viton™ Extreme™ ETP-600S is FDA compliant with limitations for repeat-use applications as outlined in Food Contact Notification (FCN) 53.
Viton™ fluoroelastomers made with APA technology vs. Viton™ A-401C (FKM) and other elastomers—% of original tensile strength* in 80 psi steam (156 °C [313 °F]) after 672 hours:
Bisphenol-cured Viton™ fluoroelastomers are known for their excellent steam resistance. However, as shown in the graph, vulcanizates based on Viton™ GF-600S and Viton™ Extreme™ ETP-600S provide even better resistance to property loss in steam.
Viton™ polymers based on APA technology provide excellent retention of tensile properties in steam aging, while the vulcanizate's strength made with silicone drops off to nearly zero in less than 400 hours.
Fluids Resistance
Viton™ GF-600S and Viton™ Extreme™ ETP-600S demonstrate improved resistance to cleaning fluids, such as Chematic® 91, Chematic® 9301, and CIP 220® in comparison to bisphenol cure dipolymer FKM, and EPDM:
Viton™ GF-600S and Viton™ Extreme™ ETP-600S exhibit lower volume loss or swell in various cleaning fluids. They maintain their sealing performance, hardness, and tensile strength under pressure.
The results show that after aging in various commercial cleaning fluids, compounds based on Viton™ GF-600S and Viton™ Extreme™ ETP-600S show low to no changes in tensile strength. In contrast, Silicone vulcanizates demonstrate a more significant tensile strength loss after 1,008 hours of aging.
Percent change in volume after 336 hours at 23°C (73°F) of fluid aging:
| Viton™ A-401C |
Viton™ GF-600S |
Viton™ ETP-600S |
EPDM | Silicone | |
| Ethanol (100%) | 5.0 | 1.1 | 0.4 | 1.0 | 8.0 |
| Acetic acid (20% Glacial/80% H2O) | 24.8 | 0.5 | 0.8 | 9.7 | –1.5 |
| Carvacro | 2.5 | 0.7 | 0.2 | –2.8 | 6.5 |
| Carvyl acetate | 28.3 | 2.5 | 1.1 | 0.8 | 13.7 |
| Cinnamyl alcoho | 4.3 | 1.6 | 1.1 | 0.9 | 5.3 |
| Citral (terpene) | 44.4 | 3.6 | 1.0 | — | — |
| Decyl acetate | 29.4 | 3.3 | 1.4 | 5.6 | 18.4 |
| 2,4-Dimethoxybenzaldehyde | 18.0 | 2.2 | 0.5 | –0.6 | 5.4 |
| Dodecanal | 2.0 | 2.3 | 1.5 | 3.0 | 11.5 |
| Ethyl benzoate | 36.9 | 5.2 | 2.8 | 3.0 | 12.0 |
| Ethyl 2-benzylacetoacetate | 44.6 | 3.0 | 0.9 | 0.3 | 7.3 |
| Ionone | 51.0 | 2.5 | 0.8 | 2.0 | 12.3 |
| Isobutylphenylacetate | 26.9 | 2.7 | 1.0 | 1.2 | 11.1 |
| Isophorone | 90.0 | 7.2 | 1.0 | 1.3 | 9.9 |
| 2-Ketobutryic acid | 26.1 | 2.5 | 2.3 | 17.4 | 3.8 |
| d-Limonene | 4.3 | 1.9 | 0.9 | 16.5 | 25.7 |
| Methyl anisole | 22.0 | 4.7 | 2.5 | 4.7 | 15.1 |
| Nerolidol | 4.2 | 2.2 | 1.6 | –0.2 | 10.8 |
| 2-Undecanone | 45.1 | 4.4 | 2.0 | 1.7 | 16.2 |
Weight change percent after one week at 23°C (73°F) in soft drink flavoring concentrates:
Both Viton™ GF-600S and Viton™ Extreme™ ETP-600S exhibit very low extractable as they do not require the use of metal acid acceptors such as magnesium and calcium hydroxide:
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Additionally, both grades show lower levels of extractable carbon compounds than EPDM and platinum-cured silicones:
Compared to O-rings, gaskets, and seals made of traditional materials, both Viton™ GF-600S and Viton™ Extreme™ ETP-600S provide the following performance benefits:
- Outstanding chemical resistance
- Exhibits an exceptionally fast cure rate
- Improved physical properties with high elongation, both original and aged
- Extended seal life and low-temperature capabilities
- Excellent compression set resistance
- Resistance to acid cleaning fluids, hydrocarbon, low molecular weight esters, heat, and steam
Viton™ fluoroelastomers and any associated logo is a trademark or copyright of THE CHEMOURS COMPANY FC, LLC used with consent by ChemPoint, an authorized distributor of THE CHEMOURS COMPANY FC, LLC.
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