Coatings for Life Sciences

Increase Purity and Performance while Reducing Maintenance 

Our Coatings Solve Metal Contamination, Corrosion, and Fouling Problems in the Life Sciences

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Stainless steel, titanium, and metal alloys are popular in the life sciences due to their biocompatibility. However, left uncoated, these materials create serious problems for applications outside the human body that are invisible to the naked eye. 

Biomolecules like proteins adsorb to bare metal surfaces - even titanium - causing false diagnostic results in regular screenings. Bacteria stick inside the microscopic crevices of food contact surfaces, leading to pitting and contamination. Common cleaning agents, organic solvents, and even high-purity water used in food production and biopharmaceutical manufacturing cause “rouging,” fouling, and corrosion of stainless steel that is expensive to repair or replace. 

SilcoTek’s NSF approved and FDA compliant coating processes create a bio-inert barrier that shields metals used in critical life sciences applications. We partner with leading manufacturers to enhance clinical diagnostic analyzers, biopharmaceutical equipment (BPE), food contact surfaces, medical devices, and more. Our coatings are comprised of abundant Earth materials like silicon (Si) and contain absolutely no PFAS unlike fluoropolymers such as PTFE. 

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Coating Benefits

SilcoTek’s coating processes enable high-performance surface properties on preferred materials of construction in the life sciences: 

  • Solve surface sticking problems, even those you can only see with an analytical instrument or microscope. Reduce cleaning maintenance and ensure accurate diagnostic results. 

  • Replace PFAS-containing fluoropolymers like PTFE with sustainable silicon (Si)-based coatings that have superior adhesion and comfortably withstand harsher conditions. 

  • Increase corrosion resistance and anti-fouling properties. Maintain the highest-purity surface throughout your entire process stream or instrument flow path. 

  • Control surface wetting properties. SilcoTek offers both hydrophobic and hydrophilic coatings for a variety of substrates. 

Applications

Our coatings improve materials used throughout test labs, hospitals, and manufacturing operations: 

  • Biopharmaceutical development and purification 

  • In-vitro diagnostic autosamplers 

  • Food contact surfaces to eliminate contamination from listeria and other bacteria

  • Chromatography and/or spectrometry of any biomolecule with an affinity for metals

  • Replacing fluoropolymers and other materials containing PFAS

  • Improving lifetime and performance over passivation or electropolishing 
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Coating Services

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Coatings and Services for Life Sciences

SilcoTek performs coating processes, precision cleaning, citric 2 stainless steel passivation, and ISO 6 cleanroom packaging for the life sciences from our ISO 9001:2015 certified facility on a wide variety of components, including but not limited to: 

  • Sampling needles, syringes, and probes 

  • Frits and filters of any pore size 

  • Tubing and piping in both straight and coiled form 

  • Reaction chambers and chemical vessels 

  • Pumps, valves, and fittings 

  • Glass vials and ampoules 

  • Surgical components 

  • Custom parts 

While our coating materials offer game-changing advantages, the processes we use to apply them are what make SilcoTek unique. We have perfected chemical vapor deposition (CVD) at scale, enabling economical coating of any part geometry at high volumes. Unlike typical liquid spray or physical coating methods, CVD enables coating of sub-micron sized openings, sharp edges, flexible components like bellows, and high aspect ratio flow paths. SilcoTek coatings have superior adhesion, allowing coated products to be bent and flexed without damaging the surface. 

Most Recommended Coatings

Dursan®

NSF approved and USP Class VI certified silica-like coating with excellent versatility. Corrosion resistant to pH 1-14, highly hydrophobic (water resistant), and adequately inert for sensitive analytical applications. Great barrier to reduce metal ions from dissolving into process or sample fluids. Learn more.

Siltride® 1000

Silicon oxynitride, SilcoTek’s most hydrophilic (water retaining), corrosion resistant, and durable coating. Excellent overall barrier and durability properties. Food and human contact testing soon underway. Learn more.

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