The demand for octafluoropropane (C3F8) is growing and the number of production companies is small.

Octafluoropropane (C3F8, also known as perfluoropropane, R218, PFC218, relative molecular mass 188.0, melting point -183°C, boiling point -36.7°C) is a perfluorinated compound with good stability and is a colorless gas under standard conditions. , has little solubility in water and organic matter.

At present, the purification methods of octafluoropropane (C3F8) mainly include distillation, adsorption, impurity conversion and membrane separation. Among them, distillation is the most widely used. Domestic Shandong Dongyue Polymer Materials Co., Ltd., Foshan Huate This method is used by Gas Co., Ltd.; some companies in Japan and the United Kingdom have researched and applied the adsorption method, such as Japan Showa Denko Co., Ltd., Japan Nippon Oxygen Co., Ltd., Innisfro Holdings Co., Ltd., etc. However, these methods have certain shortcomings. For example, it is difficult to separate impurities or azeotropic compounds with close boiling points by distillation, the cost of extractive distillation equipment is high and the process is complex, and the adsorption method is difficult to purify.

Octafluoropropane (C3F8) can be used in semiconductors, medicine, refrigerants and other fields. In the semiconductor field, it is mainly used as plasma etching gas and cleaning gas in the manufacturing process of semiconductor devices. The purity of octafluoropropane (C3F8) used in the market Generally above 99.999%; in medicine, octafluoropropane (C3F8) can form the gas of ultrasound contrast agent and is used for ultrasound contrast imaging. Octafluoropropane (C3F8) microbubbles can effectively reflect sound waves and be used to enhance ultrasound signal echo. Scattering; In R-218 refrigerant, octafluoropropane (C3F8) is one of the components of the refrigerant mixture. According to the released “China Octafluoropropane (C3F8) Industry Market Monitoring and Future Development Prospects Research Report 2022-2026”, Semiconductors are the main application field of octafluoropropane (C3F8).

With the development of automotive electronics, industrial control, consumer electronics, network communications, photovoltaics, LED and other industries, the scale of China’s semiconductor industry continues to expand. Semiconductors can be divided into four categories of products, namely integrated circuits, optoelectronic devices, discrete devices and sensors. Among them, integrated circuit products account for the largest proportion and have the highest requirements for octafluoropropane (C3F8). Therefore, the development of the integrated circuit industry has the greatest impact on octafluoropropane (C3F8). In 2021, China’s integrated circuit output will be 359.4 billion units, a year-on-year increase of 33.3%. Driven by the development of the integrated circuit industry, China’s demand for octafluoropropane (C3F8) will increase in 2021.

On the production side, due to high technical barriers, octafluoropropane (C3F8) is a niche high-purity electronic gas product. There are not many octafluoropropane (C3F8) manufacturers in my country, and the main ones are China Shipbuilding Industry (Handan) Perry Special Gas Co., Ltd. , Sichuan Fuhuaxin New Material Technology Co., Ltd., Foshan Huate Gas Co., Ltd., etc.

Industry analysts said that in addition to the continued growth in demand for octafluoropropane (C3F8) in the semiconductor industry, octafluoropropane (C3F8) Markets in other fields such as medical care are also being developed and have great potential for future growth.