Teflon, as most people know it, is often associated with non-stick cookware; however, Teflon is actually the brand name for polytetrafluoroethylene fluoropolymer, which produces non-stick properties in food items. What do you need to consider about PFA slang?
PTFE boasts excellent electrical properties and is often used as insulation on wires and cables. Furthermore, its chemical resistance makes it suitable for many different industries.
What is PTFE?
PTFE, short for polytetrafluoroethylene, was accidentally discovered by a DuPont engineer working on refrigeration in 1938. Since then, it has become widely used as a non-stick coating in cookware due to its inertness and heat resistance; additionally, it’s become an attractive material choice for outdoor equipment like tents and jackets (Gore-Tex).
PTFE stands out among polymers because of its carbon-fluorine bond, which is more strongly and firmly polarised than most hydrogen bonds found elsewhere. This gives PTFE exceptional tensile strength and chemical resistance, as well as making it resistant to dissolving in most solvents.
Other fundamental properties of PTFE include its extreme inertness and lack of odor. Furthermore, it does not react with various types of chemicals that cause corrosion, as well as being capable of resisting electric current passage.
PTFE can be produced in either granular form or as paste extrusion extruded to valuable shapes such as rods & and tubes for insulation, wires, pipe liners, or films. Powder PTFE may be mixed with volatile chemicals to form a thick paste-like consistency for pressing into stock shapes before being sintered in heat and pressure. In addition, PTFE may be sprayed or dipped onto metallic surfaces as a protective corrosion-resistant coating and applied as an inert surface friction reduction coating such as bearings.
What is PTFE used for?
PTFE is widely utilized due to its non-stick and low friction properties, making it perfect for cookware with smooth surfaces that resist heat without sticking, electrical insulation, industrial manufacturing, and chemical inertness.
PTFE comes in many different forms, from fine powders to liquids. When used as coating material, it can be applied by either dipping an object in or spraying onto it – then curing at high temperatures. Furthermore, it can be paste extruded into tapes, wire insulation tubes and pipe liners, or even thin films, which can then be pasted over them.
Other applications for PTFE include plumbing and the medical industry. Catheters may be coated in it as they provide antibacterial protection, blocking bacteria from entering the body. Furthermore, its flexibility allows it to fit tight spaces while withstanding significant pressure.
PTFE is widely utilized in mechanical engineering due to its low coefficient of friction. This material can withstand extremely high temperatures as well as wear and tear. Furthermore, its ability to repel oil and chemicals makes PTFE an excellent material choice – in fact, it repels insects so efficiently that geckos cannot stick themselves onto it!
What is PTFE not used for?
PTFE can be used in the manufacturing of bearings, gears, and slide plates that reduce friction and wear, as well as energy consumption and maintenance costs. Furthermore, its corrosion resistance makes it an excellent material choice to protect against acids and solvents; moreover, its high heat resistance makes PTFE an ideal coating choice for pans or other cookware items.
PTFE differs from most plastics by not dissolving or chemically reacting with water, providing an excellent lubricant, and resisting UV light, weathering, and UV radiation exposure. Unfortunately, its soft nature necessitates reinforcement with other materials for strength.
Fluorine bonds make the material nonreactive, making it suitable for containers, expansion joints, and liners in hose assemblies, industrial pipelines, and other applications involving reactive chemicals.
PTFE (Polyfluoroalkyl substances), however, is far more difficult to biodegrade, and incineration releases chemical compounds known as PFASs that don’t break down in the environment and build up over time in our bodies. Due to this issue, there has been an increased call for safer alternatives that don’t release these harmful PFAS compounds into the environment through incineration of products made with it and disposal through wastewater treatment plants that often cannot remove these PFAS compounds before sending their waste sludge directly into landfills.
What is PTFE made of?
Polytetrafluoroethylene, more commonly referred to as PTFE, is a synthetic polymer composed of carbon and fluorine molecules. Most widely recognized for being used as the non-stick coating on cooking pans and other cookware items, it also finds widespread usage in many industrial applications due to its chemical resistance and high-temperature stability properties. While not biodegradable, it remains safe for human consumption with no harmful impact on the environment.
PTFE is produced from a monomer called Tetrafluoroethylene (TFE), which is synthesized using the process known as pyrolysis. This involves heating TFE while simultaneously adding fluorine-containing solvent to create the final molecule; once produced, this TFE can then be converted into PTFE via chain reaction.
TFE molecules contain numerous carbon-fluorine bonds, making them extremely strong and corrosion-resistant. Furthermore, its polarized bonds make binding with other molecules difficult. Thus, PTFE remains inert and does not react with most other materials.
PTFE can be formed into many different shapes and sizes depending on its application. One familiar shape is a rod; low-friction pipe sealing tape and manufacturing medical catheters frequently utilize this material. Extrusion technology enables PTFE film extrusion with fillers like glass fiber, graphite, bronze molybdenum disulfide as well as colorants used as fillers in this film form.