A researcher at Tosoh Group company Tosoh F-Tech, Inc. (now Tosoh Finechem Corporation) received the 2016 Society of Iodine Science Award (Technical) at the 19th symposium held by the society at Chiba University on September 16, 2016.
The Society of Iodine Science Award (Technical) is given annually to individuals (including collaborators) who have made significant contributions to the development of iodine in the fields of basic and applied research and the iodine industry.
The award was given in recognition of the establishment of an industrial manufacturing process for trifluoroiodomethane (CF3I).
Trifluoroiodomethane is an environmentally friendly compound with low global warming potential (GWP)1 of 0.4. It has attracted attention as a halon and CFC replacement for etching gases and fire extinguishing agents required in semiconductor manufacturing. It offers hope that such an industrial manufacturing process can be put to practical use.
1. Name of Award: Society of Iodine Science Award (Technical)
2. Awardees: Noritaka Nagasaki, Yoshio Morikuni, Koji Kato, Nobumasa Suzuki
3. Award Theme: Development of a Novel Manufacturing Process for CF3I
4. Award Summary:
Tosoh F-Tech researched the synthesis of trifluoroiodomethane, which had been difficult to industrialize, and succeeded in developing a new catalyst and a rotary kiln-type reactor based on a completely new concept, thereby establishing an industrial production process for this compound. The compound has been put to practical use as a halon and CFC replacement2 in etching gases, fire extinguishing agents, and other applications.
1 Global warming potential (GWP) is a number that expresses the heat absorbed by greenhouse gases relative to the heat absorption of the same volume of CO2, the GWP of which is 1.0.
2 Halons and CFCs are substances subject to regulations to prevent ozone layer depletion and global warming.
Environmentally friendly replacements for these substances have been sought.
Halon: Mainly used as a fire extinguishing agent
Freon: Mainly used as a refrigerant and etching gas in semiconductor manufacture
