Aluminum foil is a standard household kitchen item that practically everyone has used since childhood. The bright and shiny, thin soft metal used to cover our food, line a cooking sheet, enhance a Halloween costume or contribute to a school project is something that we have all come to recognize and appreciate. Beyond the home, however, aluminum foil has many other commercial and industrial uses such as insulation, heat transfer, electronics and even air filters to name a few.
In the industrial arena, there is a need for a grade of aluminum foil that is virtually free of contaminants for use in highly specialized applications such as ultra-high vacuums and cleanrooms. Standard grades of aluminum foil, unfortunately, have residual surface rolling oils from the mill and are not usable in these instances.
The solution to this issue is the UHV (Ultra High Vacuum) grade of aluminum foil – a high purity form of aluminum that has an ultra-clean “A” wettable surface, is processed in a clean environment and is packaged to help prevent any further contamination.
Packaging generally includes a plastic core, a plastic box and plastic wrap around both the roll of foil and the outside of the box. UHV grade aluminum foil is typically available from a producing distributor that certifies the material to ASTM B479, 3.1.4 and 10.3.1. Once processed to these standards, UHV aluminum foil is used for creating an ultra-high vacuum, wrapping materials in a clean room and for any other scientific situations where a clean aluminum foil is mandatory.
