PFPE BASE OILS FOR SPECIAL APPLICATIONS IN AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY
Perfluoropolyethers (PFPEs) are a class of synthetic liquid lubricants used in high demanding applications thanks to their outstanding combination of physical-chemical properties. PFPEs are liquid polymers composed of carbon, oxygen and fluorine atoms, with no hydrogen in their molecule and show excellent thermal and chemical stability, low volatility, and good lubricity over a wide temperature range. Moreover this class of lubricants is safe due to the not flammability and not toxicity. The selection of this family of lubricants arises when high performances combined with high-tech solution are looked for. Examples of PFPEs applications are in the vacuum and nuclear technology, as lubricants for magnetic recording media, in the dry etching systems for microprocessing, as well as in the aerospace and most recently in the automotive industry. In the present paper the main properties of these lubricants and some applications in the automotive industry are reported.