Fluorspar to fluorine chemicals without going via hazardous hydrogen fluoride
Safer way to turn calcium fluoride mineral into valuable industrial materials
A new approach to making fluorine chemicals could offer a safer and more sustainable alternative than existing methods by circumventing the need to manufacture and handle hazardous hydrogen fluoride. The process, developed by UK researchers, uses oxalic acid to obtain a range of fluorochemicals from the mineral fluorspar, which the team says is scalable and works under mild conditions in water at room temperature.