Like mister Yetti and Nessi here, SilcoTek® coatings have their own cloud of myths hanging over their heads. No offense to the believers out there, you go right on searching for those mythical creatures, but as for our coatings, we're going to bust some of those myths wide open.
Yep, you got that right Mr. Unicorn, our team at Pittcon heard a lot of myths that started with “yeah, but I thought I couldn’t use your coating because ______”. So to clear the air, here are the top 5 coating myths.
Myth 1. Sulfinert® is only for sulfur.
Back when SilcoTek® was a division of Restek; our team developed our ultra inert coating, Sulfinert® (now known as SilcoNert® 2000). The coating was originally developed and proved to be effective in preventing sulfur adsorption, hence the name Sulfinert. But customers started to use the coating when testing other active and reactive compounds and found the coating proved to be incredibly inert for a wide range of difficult to test compounds. Today our coatings are written into standards and used in applications that have nothing to do with sulfur or sulfur compound testing. Methods and applications include:
- Environmental analysis
- Ammonia testing
- Exhaust emission
- VOC sampling
- Mercury testing
- Process control monitoring
- Air monitoring
- And many more applications
Myth 2. The coating flakes.
Silcotek® coatings are not painted or baked on. They're applied by a chemical vapor deposition process (CVD) that diffuses the coating into metal, glass or ceramic surfaces. Our patented CVD process makes our coatings incredibly durable and securely bonded to the part surface. In fact our coatings stay on even when the part is bent, heated, frozen, or smashed.
Myth 3. The coatings can't be used in caustic environments.
Well that one's on us. When our company was a young pup, none of our coatings stood up to caustic exposure. But our new inert, corrosion resistant Dursan® coating stands up to both acid and base exposure. Sure, given a strong enough base or acid, the coating may be compromised, but overall, Dursan does quite nicely when exposed to bases.
Myth 4. SilcoTek coatings are only for the laboratory.
Sure, we started in the laboratory but we've expanded our reach to lots of diverse applications. Today you can find us in semiconductor manufacturing, aerospace, automotive, chemical process, oil, gas, and refining applications.
Myth 5. You can coat that???
Customers think SilcoTek can't coat really small or really big parts. OK, we can't coat a tank truck, but we can coat some pretty large parts, from 6ft long tube filters, to 8 inch valves, we can coat a significant and diverse range of parts. As for the small stuff, we're able to coat parts ranging from a few millimeters to porous sub micron filters. We're also able to coat the inside of small bore tubing and even the interior of needles. So don't assume we can't coat a part, contact our technical service team to discuss your application.
Test your SilcoTek® knowledge. Take our quiz:
True or False:
- Our first coating was developed to make tubing inert.
- Our coatings are found nationally, internationally, and circling Saturn.
- You can read laser etch printing through our coating.
- Our coatings won't stick to super smooth surfaces.
- Our coatings were part of the swag bag at the 2016 Oscars.
- SilcoTek coatings are used in wine and beer quality control.
Answers:
- True! We needed a more inert surface
- True! Our coatings are found on the Cassini-Huygens mission now circling Saturn
- True! Etched printing found on liners or other products can be clearly read, even barcode!
- False! Our coatings are bonded to the surface and even diffuse into smooth electropolish surfaces. You should have known that!
- False! We were not part of the Oscars. Not even the swag bag.
- True! Thank goodness!
*Image credit: BBC.com
**Image credit: fortune.com
