Related compounds Molar mass 188.02 g/mol Density 8.17 g/cm³ | Formula C3F8 Boiling point -36.7 °C Melting point -183 °C | |
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Thermodynamicdata Phase behavioursolid–liquid–gas Appearance Colorless gas with; faintly sweet odor | ||
Octafluoropropane (C3F8) is a fluorocarbon non-flammable greenhouse gas that can be produced either by electrochemical fluorination or by the Fowler process using cobalt fluoride.
Contents
Octafluoropropane how to pronounce it
Applications
In the electronics industry, octafluoropropane is mixed with oxygen and used as a plasma etching material for SiO2 layers in semiconductor applications, as oxides are selectively etched versus their metal substrates.
In medicine, octafluoropropane may compose the gas cores of microbubble contrast agents used in contrast-enhanced ultrasound. Octafluoropropane microbubbles reflects sound waves well and are used to improve the ultrasound signal backscatter. It is also used in pars plana vitrectomy procedures where a retina hole or tear is repaired. The gas acts to provide a long-term tamponade, or plug, of a retinal hole/tear and allows re-attachment of the retina to occur over the following several days post-op.
Under the name R-218, octafluoropropane is used in other industries as a component of refrigeration mixtures.
It has featured in some plans for terraforming Mars.
It is the active liquid in PICO-2L dark matter bubble detector (joined PICASSO and COUPP collaborations).