Polytetrafluoroethyene (Teflon): A Fluoropolymer

What is a Fluoropolymer? 

A fluoropolymer is a fluorocarbon-based polymer with multiple carbon-fluorine bonds which is produced from alkenes in which one or more hydrogen atoms is replaced by fluorine.

Fluoro polymers have high resistance to solvents, acids, and bases that's why it is used in making kitchenware and industry wares.

Following is the common example of Fluoropolymers:

Polytetrafluoroethyene (PTFE) or Teflon

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or Teflon is a synthetic fluoropolymer that is made by polymerizing tetrafluoroethylene. It is chiefly used to coat non-stick cooking utensils and to make seals and bearings.

Structure-of-Polytetrafluoroethylene-(PTFE)-or-Teflon


Preparation of Teflon

Teflon is prepared by heating tetrafluoroethylene in the presence of peroxides or ammonium persulphate catalyst at high pressures.

Preparation-of-Polytetrafluoroethylene-(PTFE)-or-Teflon

Properties of Teflon

1. Teflon is flexible and inert to solvents and boiling acids even to aqua regia and is stable up to 598K temperature.

2. It has a low coefficient of friction and low dielectric constant due to the highly symmetric structure of the macromolecules.

3. It has good insulating power in hot and wet environments.

4. Teflon maintains high strength, toughness, and self-lubrication at low temperatures of -268.15 ℃.


Applications of Teflon

1. Teflon is used for making non-stick utensils due to its great chemical inertness and high thermal stability.

2. It is also used for making gaskets, pump packings, valves, seals, non-lubricated bearings, filter cloth, etc.

3. It is also used as electrical insulations in connector assemblies, cables, and in printed circuit boards.

4. Teflon film is also widely used in the production of carbon fiber composites as well as fiberglass composites.

Popular Posts

Conducting Polymers: Definition, Examples, Properties and Applications

Image
What are Conducting Polymers? As the name suggests organic polymers that conduct electricity are known as conducting polymers. They are also known as intrinsically conducting polymers (ICPs) and they have alternating single and double bonds along the polymer backbone (conjugated bonds) or that are composed of aromatic rings such as Phenylene, naphthalene, anthracene, pyrrole, and thiophene which are connected through carbon-carbon single bonds. Examples: Polyacetylene, Polypyrrole, Polyaniline, etc What is the reason behind conducting nature of these polymers? Conducting polymers comes in two forms that are doped conducting polymers and non-doped conducting polymers. The conductivity of non-doped conjugated polymers is due to the existence of a conductivity band similar to a metal. In a conjugated polymer, three of the four valence electrons form strong sigma bonds through sp² hybridization where electrons are strongly localized. The remaining unpaired electron of each carbon atom re...
Read more

Crime Scene: Definition, Types and Characteristics

Image
What is a Crime Scene ? A place where the crime is committed or where the maximum physical evidence related to crime is found is known as a crime scene. A crime scene is a starting point of the investigation which provides information about the suspect and the victim. This helps to reconstruct the crime and fast resolution of the case. It is noted that the crime scene is not limited to a single place but may extend to a wider area depending upon the nature of the crime committed. For example, In a murder case where murder is done at one place and the body is disposed on another place. In this case, we have two crime scenes that give information about the crime. Types of Crime Scene Based on evidence found on the crime scene: 1. Primary Crime Scene The crime scene where the actual crime occurred or where more usable pieces of evidence were found is known as the primary crime scene. For example, A murder scene, theft, assault, etc. 2. Secondary Crime Scene The crime scene which is some...
Read more

Documentation of the Crime Scene: Step by Step

Image
What is documentation of the crime scene and Why it is done? After securing the crime scene, the next most important step is documentation of the crime scene because documentation permanently records the crime scene and its physical evidence. Documentation should be done without any wastage of time as the scene and its evidence may get altered over time. The documentation should be done innovatively and the originality of the crime scene should be maintained and documentation should not have pauses or breaks, it should remain constant till the whole crime scene is documented. There are four main tasks of documentation that is note-making, photography, videography , and sketching . It should be noted that all four tasks are necessary and none is a substitute for another. For example, notes are not substitutes for photography, video is not a substitute for sketching, etc. Following are the sequence for crime scene documentation: 1. Note making Documentation of crime scene in the f...
Read more