Fluoroelastomers (FKM) and perfluoroelastomers (FFKM) are designed for high demanding applications in hostile environments characterized by high temperature ranges and contact with aggressive fluids. Among the various application fields of fluoroelastomers, one of the most challenging is oil drilling: for this field, fluoroelastomers are the elastomers of choice for their intrinsic high chemical and thermal resistance as well as for their very low permeability. However one more requirement has to fulfilled: in fact, since operations are generally performed at very high pressure, the limiting factor is generally represented by gas decompression blistering, commonly known as explosive decompression. For such a reason, special optimised compound formulations were developed to achieve both very high hardness range and optimal performances in explosive decompression tests. This is generally obtained by using blends of carbon blacks fillers with different structural properties. One more open research field we're currently investigating is related to the use of FKM-PTFE nano-composites, produced by means of a special proprietary technology. In this case, we were able to obtain fluoroelastomers compounds with high hardness and high tensile strength coupled with very high elongation at break. This result cannot be achieved with standard fillers, where high hardness is usually obtained jeopardizing both the elongation and the processability of the compounds. Both these different approaches (carbon black and PTFE based nano-composites) will be highlighted in the present work.
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