Background

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is the most chemical resistant plastics with a wide variety of applications. However, there is a huge amount of waste created by the plastics industry. Fluoropolymers (e.g. PTFE) cannot be easily incinerated or dumped since traditional incineration releases highly corrosive vapours. Today, PTFE is recycled by pulverizing into a micro-powder and then used in the manufacture of virgin PTFE.

A research project led by UCL’s Department of Chemical Engineering has developed a sustainable, efficient, and non-hazardous method to upcycle PTFE into valuable metal halides, including but not limited to Sodium Fluoride (NaF), Calcium Fluoride (CaF₂), and Sodium Hexafluoroaluminate / Cryolite (Na₃AlF₆):

Sodium Fluoride is used in fluorination of water, toothpaste, and metallurgy ($800M global market size, 2025)
Calcium Fluoride is used in optical components like windows and lenses (£2b global market size, 2025)
Sodium Hexafluoroaluminate / Cryolite is used in aluminium oxide manufacturing (£70b global market size, 2030)

Technology Overview

Every kg of PTFE waste contains 76% unrecyclable fluorine. The research team has developed a fluoro-oxygen metathesis reaction that can upcycle the fluorine from waste PTFE into useful metal fluorides:

X C_nF_2n (g) + n MO_x (s) → nX CO (g) + n MF_2x (s)

The patented method is unique in that it avoids the use of liquids and hazardous materials like HF, requires only the waste PTFE and metal oxide as the raw materials with no other additives or reactants, and has no harmful products. The metal fluoride is the only solid product and is instantly separated.

Benefits

The overall process to produce metal fluoride is liquid-free and HF-free
Only require waste PTFE and metal oxide as the feedstock, no other additives
Instant gas solid separation of the product, producing high purity metal fluoride
Sustainable and environmentally-friendly approach to manufacturing metal halides

Applications

The upcycling technique can be applied to any s-block and p-block metals, including the formation of NaF, CaF₂, Na₃AlF₆ and NaYF₄.

This patented method can also be applied to other types of fluoropolymers, such as, perfluoroalkoxy alkane (PFA) and fluorinated ethylene propylene (FEP).

Opportunity

Available for:

Licensing,
Co-Development,
Pilot Projects

Upcycling Waste PTFE to Metal Halides

IP Status

Seeking