Many thanks to Mr. Kunihiko Sasajima of Nippon Plawder in Japan, SSI’s Japanese Distributor, for submitting US manufactured SSI patent-pending fEPDM membranes for spectral analysis and high resolution microscope photography. Also attached is a microscope photo of an EPDM membrane from the SSI lab at SSI Headquarters in Poughkeepsie for comparison.

Take a look at the images below.

fepdm-section

fepdm-spectral-and-close-up-image

epdm-surface

You will see that the entire fEPDM membrane surface has been encapsulated by thin layer of fluorinated carbon, including inside the slits. Think of this thin layer as a barrier layer, through which plasticizers cannot easily migrate out of the membrane, and solvents/fats/greases/oils cannot easily permeate in order to chemically oxidize the EPDM substrate.