20 Facts About PTFE

The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off from DuPont, which originally discovered the compound in 1938.

PTFE is hydrophobic: neither water nor water-containing substances wet PTFE, as fluorocarbons exhibit only small London dispersion forces due to the low electric polarizability of fluorine.

PTFE has one of the lowest coefficients of friction of any solid.

Where used as a lubricant, PTFE reduces friction, wear, and energy consumption of machinery.

PTFE found the bottle's interior coated with a waxy white material that was oddly slippery.

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PTFE subsequently created the first PTFE-coated, non-stick pans under the brand name Tefal .

Granular PTFE is produced via suspension polymerization, where PTFE is suspended in an aqueous medium primarily via agitation and sometimes with the use of a surfactant such as perfluorooctanesulfonic acid or FRD-903 .

PTFE is synthesized via emulsion polymerization, where a surfactant is the primary means of keeping PTFE in an aqueous medium.

PTFE can be used to prevent insects from climbing up surfaces painted with the material.

PTFE is so slippery that insects cannot get a grip and tend to fall off.

For example, PTFE is used to prevent ants from climbing out of formicaria.

However, until the 1990s, PTFE was not known to crosslink like an elastomer, due to its chemical inertness.

Some PTFE parts are made by cold-moulding, a form of compression molding.

In industrial applications, owing to its low friction, PTFE is used for plain bearings, gears, slide plates, seals, gaskets, bushings, and more applications with sliding action of parts, where it outperforms acetal and nylon.

PTFE film is widely used in the production of carbon fiber composites as well as fiberglass composites, notably in the aerospace industry.

PTFE film is used as a barrier between the carbon or fiberglass part being built, and breather and bagging materials used to incapsulate the bondment when debulking and when curing the composite, usually in an autoclave.

The PTFE, used here as a film, prevents the non-production materials from sticking to the part being built, which is sticky due to the carbon-graphite or fiberglass plies being pre-pregnated with bismaleimide resin.

PTFE is often found in musical instrument lubrication products; most commonly, valve oil.

PTFE is used in some aerosol lubricant sprays, including in micronized and polarized form.

PTFE is best known for its use in coating non-stick frying pans and other cookware, as it is hydrophobic and possesses fairly high heat resistance.