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With some abbreviations, such as PTFE, hardly anyone knows what they are. Behind the letters, however, there is a material that you are certainly familiar with
PTFE : What it is
The abbreviation PTFE stands for “polytetrafluoroethylene”. This is a versatile high-performance plastic. You will know exactly what it is when you read the well-known brand name by which polytetrafluoroethylene is known: Teflon.
- Almost every household probably has a Teflon pan or two. These pans are characterized above all by their good non-stick coating, so that almost nothing burns in them. Anyone who has ever had to painstakingly scrape burnt food out of a pan will certainly appreciate this property.
- PTFE is a semi-crystalline fluoroplastic composed of fluorine and hydrocarbon. The versatile high-performance plastic scores with properties such as chemical and thermal resistance, electrical insulation and low friction.
- Due to its outstanding properties, PTFE is used in industry as well as in the consumer goods sector, mechanical engineering, the textile industry, chemical plant construction and medical technology. In the consumer goods sector, you will find PTFE in the coating of spectacle lenses or piercing jewelry, for example.
PTFE – these properties characterize the high-performance plastic
PTFE has many positive properties that make the material valuable for numerous areas. We have listed some of the unbranched, linear polymers below:
- Thermal resistance: PTFE can withstand extreme temperatures. The high-performance plastic can easily withstand cold or heat between -200 degrees and +260 degrees. This is why the plastic is essentially non-flammable
- Chemical resistance: The chemical resistance is similar to the thermal resistance. The material is extremely robust and can withstand almost all chemicals
- Electrical insulation: Due to its low dielectric constant and high partial discharge resistance, the material is often used as an insulating material. PTFE is particularly popular in high-voltage and high-frequency technology.
- Biocompatibility: PTFE is biocompatible and is therefore one of the relevant materials in medical technology.
- Low friction: Last but not least, PTFE is used as a dry lubricant as it has a very low coefficient of friction.
