Aerospace Component Outgassing with Liquid CO2
Elastomer Outgassing Features:
- Meets ASTM E-595 standards
- Process time 0.5 – 3 hours
- Effective removal of silicones, phthalate esters, amides
- Parts removed are clean and dry
- No impact on electrical or material characteristics of components
- Small footprint
Cool Clean’s liquid CO2 systems effectively post cure various silicones and elastomers in Aerospace and Medical applications. Liquid CO2, or LCO2, has an affinity for silicones and other volatile monomers, and due to its low surface tension and viscosity, LCO2 can easily diffuse into porous elastomeric structures to successfully extract unreacted monomers and other volatiles.
When the elastomer is exposed to liquid CO2, it first penetrates and solubilizes un-cured and non-crosslinked compounds, forming a solution which diffuses out of the elastomeric matrix and into the bulk of the chamber. Studies have shown that this process does not materially change elastomers and achieves equivalent or better results to traditional bake-out and vacuum bake-out alternatives.
The LCO2 system for elastomer outgassing is a completely automated, closed loop system capable of recovering up to 99% of CO2 for re-use. By controlling the process parameters, including pressure and exposure time, the liquid CO2 system removes unwanted components safely and effectively from elastomers. The process times are significantly quicker, only 30 minutes to 3 hours, as compared to 24 to 72 hours (about 3 days) for a traditional thermal-vacuum process.
