PFAS is a hot-botton topic these days with new regulations being continuously handed down. This year at Pittcon 2025, our Dr. Jesse Bischof, Senior Scientist at SilcoTek, discussed Material Selection for PFAS Separations: Transfer Tubing, GC Systems, and HPLC Systems. See our latest episode of SilcoTalk in which Jesse reviews his presentation:
Some Key Highlights:
Environmental Testing Applications
SilcoTek coatings provide inert, corrosion-resistant surfaces for components in environmental detection equipment, reducing the need for PFAS in this critical area. The coatings prevent contamination and degradation in sampling components, extending system life and efficiency.
SilcoTek CVD coatings are most commonly found as better-performing alternatives to PFAS coatings for difficult trace-level sampling and analysis applications. SilcoTek’s silicon-based coatings are inert to a wide variety of chemicals, enabling great sensitivity of analytical instruments and thus more accurate, faster results. Testing by Mr. Stefan (S.T.) Persijn and Jennifer Englert of VSL, Dutch Meterlogical Society, (in conjunction with the German Meterological Office, DWD) presented a comparative study of adsorptive properties of various materials commonly used in VOC analysis.* Read the VOC presentation HERE.
The untreated stainless steel readily adsorbs active compounds with complete loss of methanol, a reactive chemical compound that creates health hazards and can be challenging to measure at trace levels. PFA and PEEK tubing require careful management of the surface and extensive labor in order to achieve acceptable results. At elevated temperatures, the PFAS coating materials fail. SilcoNert® 2000 (in this study called by our other trade name, Sulfinert®) coated stainless steel does not adsorb active compounds because the inert silicon CVD surface bonds to and diffuses into the stainless steel substrate, preventing interaction with reactive sites better than PFAS coatings and drastically outperforming the alternatives.
The study exposed various tube surfaces to methanol at 50°C and 100°C and measured adsorption rate of the surfaces. Results show that an inert coating like SilcoNert coated stainless steel prevented adsorption and reaction with VOCs in critical flow paths. The study summary below highlights the comparative results:**
Inertness for Medical and Pharmaceutical Applications
PFAS-free SilcoTek coatings such as Dursan® are ideal for use in medical devices and pharmaceutical processing, where inert, non-reactive surfaces are critical. Our coatings provide a contamination-resistant and chemically inert barrier that prevents reactions and protects product purity. Unlike PFAS coatings like PTFE, SilcoTek coatings bond molecularly to metal surfaces for maximum adhesion and their multi-layer composition ensures high purity barrier properties, even at elevated temperatures.
SilcoTek's surface treatment is FDA compliant, USP Class VI and NSF certified. Dursan coating showed excellent results when compared to other coatings and materials. See the Bioprocessing Equipment application brief for more information.
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