Apiezon L Grease is a silicone- and halogen-free ultra high vacuum grease suitable for use scientific and industrial applications. L Grease has the best vapour pressure properties of all the Apiezon products and is therefore suitable for use in ultra high vacuum applications. L Grease is regularly used by highly respected organisations such as The European Space Agency, NASA and NATO.

Apiezon L Grease is designed for use at ambient temperatures (generally between 10 to 30°C / 50 to 86°F). If you are looking for a grease capable of performing at higher temperatures, Apiezon AP101 or Apiezon H Grease may be more appropriate.

Apiezon L Grease: Ultra High Vacuum Grease Properties

Apiezon L Grease is a silicone- and halogen-free ultra high vacuum grease which:

• exhibits an extremely low vapour pressure of 7 x 10^-11 Torr at 20°C
• does not suffer from contamination problems associated with silicone based greases such as 'creep' or 'carry over'
• provides excellent lubrication
• is recommended for use at ambient temperatures
• has built-in radiation resistance
• has powerful 'gettering' action, meaning it absorbs potentially harmful grease and chemical impurities on metal and glass surfaces
• is easy to clean and remove as it is soluble in hydrocarbon solvents

Applications of Apiezon L Grease

As an ultra high vacuum grease with excellent lubrication properties and radiation resistance Apiezon L Grease is used for many diverse applications. In particular, L Grease is commonly used in scientific and industrial sealing and lubrication applications.

Apiezon L Grease has been especially formulated to provide excellent lubrication while maintaining an efficient gas seal and is therefore widely used in the manufacture and servicing of high performance vacuum pumps.

Using silicone-free Apiezon L Grease avoids the problems of 'creep' and 'carry over' which can often lead to sample contamination. Therefore, it is regularly used in analytical techniques such as infrared or mass spectrometry where sample contamination must be avoided.

Similarly, 'creep' can cause problems in industrial paint or metal deposition processes as trace amounts of silicone on surfaces can prevent the adherence of paint, leading to poor coverage. When using silicone-free Apiezon L Grease this is not a problem.

As a halogen-free product Apiezon L Grease has a built-in resistance to irradiation. Other high vacuum greases such as esters, silicones or halogenated paraffins decompose at radiation levels of 0.1 MGy or less. In contrast, L Grease maintains excellent lubrication properties in high radiation applications, despite a small increase in stiffness when irradiated with 4 MeV electrons to 1 MGy.

Apiezon L Grease has strong powers of absorption, particularly for other hydrocarbon molecules due to its complex hydrocarbon structure and very high molecular weight. Consequently, it is frequently used as a stationary phase in gas chromatography.