Chemours (Wilmington, Delaware / USA; www.chemours.com), the business spun off from US chemical giant DuPont (Wilmington, Delaware; www.dupont.com) on 1 July (see Plasteurope.com of 09.07.2015), has launched a new bisphenol-cured fluorinated rubber pre-compound under the name “Viton” VTR-9307 for the production of fluoroelastomer (FKM) parts with long-term resistance to hot acidic gases and condensates.

Based on proprietary technology, the new product is said to combine the advantages of high temperature and chemical resistance with the added acid resistance necessary for automotive applications such as EGR sensors, positive crankcase ventilation (PCV), diesel particulate filters, gaskets for charge air coolers, intake pipes, EGR coolers and quick connectors, in addition to O-rings and sleeves for air flow elements. Up to now, higher-priced peroxide cross-linked FKM were required for these applications.

Chemours said Viton VTR-9307 can be used without the addition of conventional metal oxide activators to avoid the extreme swelling caused by these activators when exposed to organic acids.

Elastomers produced with the pre-compound swell only slightly. Their mechanical properties, such as tensile strength, elongation at break, hardness and compression set – similar to the properties of peroxide-crosslinked FKM – are claimed to be largely unaffected by long-term exposure to organic acids.

Jean-Marc Imbert, global product manager for fluoroelastomers at Chemours, said the newly launched product offers a cost-effective solution compared with peroxide-cured FKM in many demanding applications especially in the automotive industry.