- Materials
- Forms
- Reference Materials
-
Services
-
Services
-
-
Sectors
-
Supporting cutting edge research and development with advanced materials to your needs.
High performance materials for extreme conditions.
Innovative and lightweight materials with high mechanical properties and durability.
Materials used in chemical engineering from consumables to innovative solutions.
Advanced materials characterized by high electrical or insulation performance.
High quality materials for renewable energy.
Biocompatible and biodegradable materials to the highest standards.
High purity, biocompatible materials for high performance devices and applications.
High purity metals and alloys in various forms and crucibles suitable to your needs.
State of the art materials for the next generation of technologies.
High performance materials for extreme conditions.
Durable materials for corrosive environments.
Foils, disks or windows across a range of materials to facilitate your innovation.
Polymers, metal foils, and sustainable materials for your packaging needs.
Your requirements for unique products and attributes will be met across our 170,000+ product range and customization capabilities.
High-quality materials across branded products in various forms including rods, wires, and foils support space technology needs.
Highest quality materials to support your need for small-quantity specialist materials such as graphite and lithium compounds.
High purity materials to improve the reproducibility and reliability of your evaporation processes.
-
- Product Ranges
-
Resources
-
Find out our latest news.
Read our latest insights, and opinions.
Discover our Innovation Discovered podcasts on innovation, products, interesting topics, and more.
Find out how we've worked with our partners
Our latest updates on what we are doing, find out more.
Find out more about us and the great roles we have available for talented individuals. Find out more.
Take a look at our global distributors.
Explore our FAQ resource to help answer your key questions.
Gain a clearer picture of the language used in scientific study
-
- About Us
Tin Foil
Available Configurations
Properties common to all products in this list
| Purity | Thickness | Sides | Temper ⓘ | Support | Other Variant |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 98.8% (1N88) to 99.999% (5N) | 0.0005 mm (thin foil) to 6 mm (plate) | 10 mm to 300 mm | As Rolled | Temporary acrylic on 0.0005 mm thick foils | Light Tight (Pinhole Free) |
Need custom configurations? Please contact us.
Key Features
Tin Foil at 98.8–99.999% purity is a highly malleable, non-toxic metallic foil with a low melting point of 231.9 °C, good corrosion resistance, and excellent barrier performance — available from 0.0005 mm ultra-thin film through to 6 mm plate across purity grades from 1N88 to 5N:
Extreme Softness & Conformability — Among the Most Pliable Metallic Foils at Room Temperature
Tin's extreme softness makes it among the most pliable metallic foils at room temperature, allowing it to conform tightly to irregular surfaces with reliable contact — making it the material of choice for gaskets, seals, and wrapping applications where metal-to-metal conformability and reliable surface contact under low clamping loads are required.
Low Melting Point (231.9 °C) for Low-Temperature Bonding & Sealing
A melting point of 231.9 °C enables low-temperature bonding and sealing processes where thermal input must be limited to protect sensitive substrates — supporting tin foil's use in solder preforms, low-temperature hermetic seal gaskets, and soft metallic bonding interlayers in electronics assembly and precision instrument fabrication.
Excellent Barrier Performance Against Moisture, Gases & Contaminants
Tin foil provides excellent barrier performance against moisture, gases, and contaminants, combined with chemical inertness and non-toxicity — making it well established in food-contact, pharmaceutical packaging, and cleanroom applications where metallic barrier foils must not introduce contamination and where corrosion resistance across a broad range of environmental conditions is required.
Purity Range 1N88 to 5N — Highest Grades for Analytical & Electronic Applications
Purity options from 1N88 to 5N cover the full range of industrial and research requirements — with 5N (99.999%) grade selected for applications where trace metallic contamination from the foil would compromise analytical accuracy, electronic device performance, or experimental results in surface science and electrochemical research.
Moderate Electrical Conductivity for EMI Shielding & Superconductivity Below 3.722 K
Moderate electrical conductivity supports tin foil's use in EMI shielding and electrostatic barrier applications, while its superconducting transition below 3.722 K makes high-purity tin foil relevant to cryogenic physics research as a well-characterized elemental superconductor substrate for critical temperature and magnetic response investigations.
Industrial Applications
Tin Foil is used across vacuum and instrument sealing, food and pharmaceutical packaging, EMI shielding, electrochemical research, and cryogenic physics wherever a highly malleable, non-toxic, chemically inert metallic foil with controlled purity is required:
- ✦ Vacuum Seals & Gaskets
- Used as vacuum seals and gaskets in laboratory instruments and precision equipment, where tin's extreme softness and conformability allow the foil to deform and fill surface irregularities on mating flanges under modest clamping loads — providing reliable leak-tight sealing in systems where the low melting point also permits the foil to be used as a low-temperature fusible seal element in hermetic enclosures.
- ✦ Food Packaging & Pharmaceutical Barrier Applications
- Applied in food packaging and pharmaceutical barrier applications where tin foil's non-toxicity, chemical inertness, excellent moisture and gas barrier performance, and established regulatory status make it suitable for direct food contact and pharmaceutical primary packaging — with purity grade selection from 1N88 to 5N matched to the contamination requirements of the specific product or application.
- ✦ EMI Shielding & Electrostatic Barriers
- Used in EMI shielding and electrostatic barrier applications where tin foil's moderate electrical conductivity provides shielding effectiveness in non-corrosive and food-safe environments — and where tin's non-toxicity and chemical compatibility with food-contact and pharmaceutical environments favour it over copper or aluminium foil shielding alternatives in sensitive product protection applications.
- ✦ Electrochemical Research Substrates & Surface Science
- Employed as electrochemical research substrates and surface science specimens at purity grades from 3N through 5N, where the well-defined tin surface and purity-traceable composition provide a reproducible metallic substrate for electrochemical characterization, oxide film growth studies, corrosion kinetics investigations, and thin-film deposition work — with 5N grade selected where trace impurity effects at the foil surface are experimental variables.
- ✦ Cryogenic Physics Research & Superconductivity Studies
- High-purity Tin Foil is used in cryogenic physics research and superconductivity studies, where tin's well-characterized superconducting transition at 3.722 K provides a reproducible elemental superconductor foil for critical temperature measurements, magnetic flux studies, and cryogenic electronic material investigations requiring a well-defined, purity-traceable superconducting substrate.
Material Properties
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Atomic number | 50 |
| Crystal structure | Tetragonal |
| Electronic structure | Kr 4d¹⁰ 5s² 5p² |
| Valences shown | 2,4 |
| Atomic weight( amu ) | 118.69 |
| Thermal neutron absorption cross-section( Barns ) | 0.63 |
| Photo-electric work function( eV ) | 4.3 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 122/ 4.6 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 124/ 5.6 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 114/ 0.7 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 120/ 32.4 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 118/ 24.3 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 112/ 1.0 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 116/ 14.7 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 115/ 0.4 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 117/ 7.7 |
| Natural isotope distribution( Mass No./% ) | 119/ 8.6 |
| Atomic radius - Goldschmidt( nm ) | 0.158 |
| Ionisation potential( No./eV ) | 2/ 14.63 |
| Ionisation potential( No./eV ) | 5/ 72.3 |
| Ionisation potential( No./eV ) | 3/ 30.5 |
| Ionisation potential( No./eV ) | 4/ 40.7 |
| Ionisation potential( No./eV ) | 1/ 7.34 |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Hardness - Mohs | 1.5-1.8 |
| Material condition | Polycrystalline |
| Poisson's ratio | 0.357 |
| Bulk modulus( GPa ) | 58.2 |
| Tensile modulus( GPa ) | 49.9 |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Electrical resistivity( µOhmcm ) | 12.6@20°C |
| Superconductivity critical temperature( K ) | 3.722 |
| Temperature coefficient( K⁻¹ ) | 0.0046@0-100°C |
| Thermal emf against Pt (cold 0C - hot 100C)( mV ) | 0.42 |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Boiling point( C ) | 2270 |
| Density( gcm⁻³ ) | 7.28@20°C |
| Element | Value |
|---|---|
| Melting point( C ) | 231.9 |
| Latent heat of evaporation( J g⁻¹ ) | 2497 |
| Latent heat of fusion( J g⁻¹ ) | 59.6 |
| Specific heat( J K⁻¹ kg⁻¹ ) | 213@25°C |
| Thermal conductivity( W m⁻¹ K⁻¹ ) | 66.8@0-100°C |
| Coefficient of thermal expansion( x10⁻⁶ K⁻¹ ) | 23.5@0-100°C |
Tolerances
| Thickness | <0.01mm | ±25% |
|---|---|---|
| Thickness | 0.01mm - 0.05mm | ±15% |
| Thickness | >0.05mm | ±10% |
| Linear dimension | <100mm | ±1mm |
| Linear dimension | >=100mm | +2 / -1% |