APPLICATIONS:

			Three of the inventors of Berkeley Lab's fluorine separation device. From left to right: Craig Jacobson, Steven Visco, Lutgard DeJonghe.

• Point of use fluorine generation, separation, and recycling
  

ADVANTAGES:

• Compact solid state system
• Extremely high purity fluorine separation, allowing the gas to be recycled on site
• Decreases fluorine waste and reduces the amount of fluorine purchased and transported

ABSTRACT:

The semiconductor industry makes extensive use of gas mixtures that contain fluorine. Many of these substances are harmful and expensive, and must therefore be removed or scrubbed from the exhaust gas stream.  Current on-site separation, generation, and recycling methods are typically cumbersome, expensive, and involve wet methods that evoke extremely corrosive reactions. 

Craig Jacobson, Steven Visco, Lutgard De Jonghe, and Constantin Stefan of Berkeley Lab have developed a solid state electrolytic cell to separate fluorine from fluorine/fluoride gases or liquids, such as HF, NF3 CF4, and SF6.  The compact Berkeley Lab device promises to produce 100% pure fluorine from waste streams or precurser chemicals, enabling the gas to be recycled or generated at the manufacturing site.  The invention is suitable for small research labs as well as semiconductor fabs.

In one optimized configuration, the Berkeley Lab technology employs platinum and graphite electrodes with a gas tight LaF3 electrolyte.  Please see US Patent #7090752 for more information on this invention.

STATUS:

• US Patent #2009/0152125 and Published US Patent Application # 12/334,776 available at www.uspto.gov. Available for licensing or collaborative research.

REFERENCE NUMBER: IB-1847