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
Crouse pl.jpg
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

  • Mr John Kabangu
B.Sc. (Hons) Chemical Engineering
  • Mr Ryno Pretorius
M.Eng. Chemical Engineering
  • Mr Gerard J. Puts
Undergraduate
  • Miss Melanie Jansen van Rensburg
B.Eng. (Hons) Chemical Engineering

Projects

Production of anhydrous hydrogen fluoride and fluorine

Prof Philip Crouse - Project supervisor
Paul Sonnendecker - Project leader
Joubert du Plessis - Student contributor
Arno van den Berg - Student contributor

Depolymerisation of polytetrafluoroethylene

Prof Philip Crouse - Project supervisor
Gerard Puts - Project leader
Paul Sonnendecker - Technical contributor

Extraction and purification of lithium ietsie ietsie ietsie

Prof Philip Crouse - Project supervisor
Onias Sitando - Project leader

Extraction and purification of niobium ietsie ietsie ietsie

Prof Philip Crouse - Project supervisor
John Kabangu - Project leader

Instruments

Spectro ARCOS ICP-OES

PerkinElmer Lambda 750s UV/Vis Spectrophotometer

PerkinElmer Spectrum 100 FTIR Spectrometer

Documents


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