More about Teflon Coatings

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A revolutionary material with both industrial and commercial uses, Teflon has actually existed for almost seventy years. The substance that most of us know as Teflon is a polymer of fluorinated ethylene called polyterafluoroethylene, commonly referred to as PTFE. This substance has remarkable chemical properties, namely its friction coefficient, which is the lowest among all existing solids. The term Teflon can also be used for a similar polymer, perfluoroalkoxy polymer resin.

As a coating, Teflon serves many purposes. The household applications of Teflon coatings are the most familiar, namely their use as non-stick surfaces in cookware. It also provides screech-free windshield wiper blades and fabric protectors. But it has many other uses, as well. In applications where its relatively high melting point is not an issue, it provides an extremely low friction solution to gear and bearing coatings. Its major drawback in such uses is that it is less wear-resistant than otherwise less effective coatings. It is also an exceptional insulator in electrical applications, and is used in the manufacture of printed circuit boards (PCB) and electrical cables. Teflon also finds use in various seals, fittings and valves, as well as different pneumatic cylinders. Certain diaphragm pumps use PTFE as their central diaphragm material.

Teflon has become an important material in semiconductor and pharmaceutical manufacturing, and even finds military use as coating for ammunition. It is largely inert, which makes it an excellent storage material for particularly reactive compounds. This attribute also adds to its desirability as a cookware coating. However, PTFE does have certain disadvantages. For instance, the fumes released by overheated Teflon are mildly toxic to humans and deadly to some animals, and Teflon does not provide the same resistance to deterioration shown by certain other coatings. It has such a wide range of uses, however, and can be applied to such a wide range of materials, that its advantages far outweigh these concerns.