Pharma IQ Glossary: Elastomer
An Elastomer is defined as a long chain co-polymers or terpolymers (two or three different monomers in one chain) that contain adequate crosslinks among individual chains. Fluorinated elastomers are more stable than hydrocarbon or silicon elastomers because C-F bonds are approximately 30% stronger than C-H bonds. There are five major FDA compliant elastomers used in the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industries: EPDM (ethylene-propylene-diene rubber), fluororelastomers (FKM), platinum-cured silicon (pt-Si), and finally Kalrez® parts using compounds KLR-6221 and KLR-6230, which are perfluoroelastomers.
