Calcium Fluoride

About This Product

Calcium fluoride, CaF2 with CAS number 7789-75-5, occurs as the mineral fluorite and is supplied as powder, filter cake or lump. It is practically insoluble in water and is the only commercially significant source of fluorine. The entire fluorochemical industry starts here. Acid grade fluorspar, above 97 percent CaF2, is reacted with sulphuric acid to produce hydrogen fluoride, and HF is the precursor to fluoropolymers such as PTFE, to refrigerants, to aluminium smelting flux, to fluorinated pharmaceuticals and agrochemicals, and to uranium hexafluoride for nuclear fuel. There is no alternative feedstock at scale, which is why fluorspar appears on the critical raw materials lists of the EU, the US and China. Metallurgical grade, typically 60 to 85 percent, is used directly as a flux in steel and iron making, where it fluidises the slag by lowering its melting point and viscosity so that sulphur and phosphorus partition into it more efficiently. Optical grade single crystals are grown for ultraviolet and infrared lenses, since calcium fluoride transmits across a far wider spectral range than glass. It is used in hydrogen fluoride manufacture, steel and iron fluxing, aluminium smelting, glass and enamel, welding electrodes and optical components. Bio Green Chem supplies acid and metallurgical grades to specification on CaF2 content, silica, calcium carbonate, sulfur, moisture and particle size.