The Secret to Skived Films

First, let's address the primary subject and delve into the key obstacles that skived films can help overcome. These films are extremely durable and have high protection-properties to withstand extreme temperatures, chemicals and radiation. This makes them ideal for applications in harsh environments or where other polymers fail.

Made from PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene), they can be used in demanding applications where non-stick properties are needed. Some examples include the food or packaging industry, the aerospace industry or within industrial applications like printed circuit boards applications. The electrical shielding and dielectric properties of skived films are also ideal for protecting sensitive components, wires, and cables.

The manufacturing of skived films starts with high-quality premium resins, which are pressed and sintered up to two-meter-high billets. These billets rotate against a static knife to skive high quality films from ultrathin 12.5µm thickness up to three millimeters.

The thickness and width can be customized for each application and for specific customer needs. Furthermore, special surface activation processes can make our PTFE materials bondable, which is very difficult to achieve. The combination of ultra-thin, flexible, yet extremely resistant and customizable solutions make our PTFE-films special for demanding applications, says Application Engineer Jan Kupzig.

— Jan Kupzig, Application Engineer Films, Saint-Gobain Tape Solutions

According to Jan, this makes it ideal for applications which, for example, require temperatures above 150°C, have direct contact with aggressive substances such as hydrochloric acid or which require inertness of materials or lowest surface friction with a coefficient of friction (COF) to be below 0.1. Our PTFE skived films outperform other polymer solutions and help overcome process limits and extend performance.

The use of skived PTFE films in pump diaphragms is a good example for demanding applications as they are used in harsh surroundings. To reliably pump aggressive substances like acids with high pressure and high temperatures up to 260°C, our skived films provide ultimate component protection for failure-free operation, longer lifetimes and less maintenance.

In other applications like hydrogen production that can play an important role in future energy storage and supply, our skived PTFE films perform as a frame gasket that protects and seals sensitive components under high temperatures and pressure. The high-end sealing properties of PTFE films also have proven performance in similar, demanding applications such as those required by chloride substances.

Electric motor applications are another example where skived films can make the difference. E-motor technology is currently experiencing a tremendous development as the drivers behind moving small and highly precise parts up to electrified vehicles and large industrial applications where they move multiple tons of weight. Skived PTFE films are used especially in high performance and high voltage electric motors to reliably protect from shorts. The Comparative Tracking Index (CTI) of more than 600 for PTFE allows designing e-motors with higher voltage for increased power output and safety.

Thanks a lot for the insights from Jan Kupzig as we have learned that skived PTFE films combine outstanding durability, resistance and high protection-properties to withstand extreme temperatures, chemicals, and radiation with superior flexibility, conformability and facilitated use.

Their versatile and customizable properties make them ideal for high-end applications like in food processing, aerospace, automotive, and electronics where other polymer materials are limited in providing high performance under tough requirements.

If you now discovered that skived films could be the missing piece of the puzzle to reach the next level of performance for your products, get in touch with our experts for skived PTFE films and experience the tremendous value these thin materials provide.