Fluoro-materials Science

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Welcome to the Fluoro-Materials Group page.

Introduction

The Fluoro-Materials Group was established late 2007 in the Department of Chemical Engineering. The initiative was introduced by the DST through what is called the Fluorochemical Expansion Initiative.

South Africa has the second largest reserve of calcium fluoride in the world and currently has the third largest mining operations. Calcium fluoride or fluorspar is the most abundant, naturally occurring, form of fluoride. It is also the starting point for the production of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride, fluorine, tetrafluoroethylene and various other industrially important fluorides.

The Fluoro-Materials Group mainly focuses on research in the following areas:

Production and production technology of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and fluorine.
Depolymerisation and polymerisation of polytetrafluoroethylene.
Extraction of various metals from local ore and ore found in southern Africa.
Production of various polymers, other than PTFE, by means of co-polymer additions to tetrafluoroethylene.

Useful Links and Downloads

To view more information on postgraduate studies in the Department of Chemical engineering click here.
To download a copy of the departmental guideline for technical reports click here.
For versions of the standard declaration form regarding plagiarism click here.

Staff

Member	Title	Position	Email	Tel.	Office
Philip L. Crouse	Prof.	Chair: Fluoro-materials Science and Process Integration	philip.crouse@up.ac.za	(012) 420-2856	Eng I, R 8-7
Denise Jacobs	Miss	Administrative Assistant	denise.jacobs@up.ac.za	(012) 420-4668	Eng I, R 8-8
Paul W. Sonnendecker	Mr.	Technical Officer	paul.sonnendecker@up.ac.za	(012) 420-3161	Eng I, R 8-13
Onias Sitando	Mr.	Laboratory and Instrument Assistant	s29684995@tuks.co.za		Eng II, R 3-52

Students

Member	Title	Position	Email	Tel.
Ryno Pretorius	Mr.	M.Eng. (Chemical)	r.nielater@gmail.com	07765608180
Paul W. Sonnendecker	Mr.	M.Eng. (Chemical)	paul.sonnendecker@up.ac.za	07794917802
Onias Sitando	Mr.	M.Sc. (Applied Sciences)	s29684995@tuks.co.za	07765079493
John Kabangu Mpinga	Mr.	M.Sc. (Applied Science)	johnmpinga@yahoo.fr	07731014541
Ncamsile Maseko	Miss	M.Sc. (Applied Sciences)		07822138323
Tando Kili	Mr.	B.Eng. (Hons)(Chemical)
Atang C. Sauli	Mr.	M.Sc. (Applied Sciences)		07765447550
Keegan M. Baloyi	Mr.	B.Eng. (Hons)(Chemical)
Lucas Dube	Mr.	B.Eng. (Hons)(Chemical)		07787888808
Rendani Munandi	Miss	B.Eng. (Hons)(Chemical)		07729549377
Melanie Jansen van Rensburg	Miss	B.Eng. (Hons)(Chemical)		07765855638
Athi-Enkosi Mavukwana	Mr.	B.Sc. (Hons)(Applied Sciences)		07784953176
Gerard J. Puts	Mr.	B.Eng. (Chemical)	gerard.puts.up@gmail.com	07767884811
Anré M. van der Westhuizen	Miss	B.Eng. (Chemical)	anre.v.d.west@gmail.com	07842122232

Modules

The Fluoro-Materials Group facilitates one post graduate module, CFT 732 Fluoro-Materials Science, for B.Eng. (Hons) Chemical Engineering or B.Sc. (Hons) Applied Sciences. For more information on this module, please refer to the CFT 732 study guide.