An Extensive Review on the Viscoelastic-plastic and Fractural Mechanical Behaviour of ETFE Membranes

The present article is a review of ETFE (ethylene tetrafluoroethylene) material, with emphasis on the mechanical and fractural behaviour, considering that the material is becoming one of the most promising façades and roof materials due to its advantageous properties. This paper examines the basic chemical makeup of this copolymer and details the elastic-plastic and viscous properties through selected studies in the field. The paper also reviews the available phenomenological, continuum mechanical or rheological constitutive models focusing on the engineering application to the corresponding phenomena. A separate part of the article covers the existing fractural mechanical research on ETFE.

Heat-Resistant Polymer Composites Based on Ethylene Tetrafluoroethylene Mixed with Inorganic Polyoxides

This pilot study aimed at investigating an alternative to irradiation-crosslinking to increase the structural stability of ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE), by mixing this polymer matrix with polyoxides. The latter consisted of aluminum polyphosphate (AP) having a flow temperature near to that of ETFE to facilitate melt-mixing by extrusion, and rigid fillers of metakaolin (MK). It was found that the ETFE/AP/MK composite with the formulation 60/20/20 (wt %) exhibited the most relevant properties. Indeed, when comparing this composite with neat ETFE, the structural stability was improved until 120 °C, the onset temperature of degradation passed from 381.5 to 459.4 °C, the elastic modulus evolved from 0.4 GPa to 1.6 GPa, and the tensile strength increased from 23 to 27 MPa. The results were briefly discussed based on a potential interaction between the polyoxides and the polymer matrix and synergistic effect between the two polyoxides.

Investigation of Contaminants in Single Wafer Wet Cleaning Using Isopropyl Alcohol

Technological control over ultra-trace level contaminants is important for semiconductor development. Despite technological developments, defects remain in the single wafer wet cleaning process. In this paper, the source of the contamination is explained via trace analytical methods. Fluorine resin materials of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) and ethylene tetrafluoroethylene (ETFE) are commonly used in semiconductor equipment. Isopropyl alcohol (IPA) oxidation reactions occur at high temperature below the boiling point due to impurities. IPA changed to different alcohol forms from gas chromatography (GCMS) analysis. The oxygen concentration in the X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) results increased and formed new bonds in IPA with fluorine resin. These reactions confirmed that cations were a catalyst from the time-of-flight secondary ion mass spectrometry (TOF-SIMS) results. Representative ions were Fe+, K+, and Na+ with different concentrations for each material.