PTFE or Teflon? What is the difference between the two?

 Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene.

One of the best known and most recognised brand names of PTFE on the market is Teflon by DuPont Company. Other brand names for PTFE include Dyneon™, DAIKIN-POLYFLON™ and Fluon®.

PTFE is a fluorocarbon solid, as it is a high-molecular-weight compound consisting wholly of carbon and fluorine.

The fluorocarbon industry developed during World War II from 1939 onwards

Polytetrafluoroethylene has one of the lowest coefficients of friction against any solid known to man and this unique characteristic lends itself well to applications that desire low levels of resistance.

LDF – London dispersion forces is a type of force acting between molecules and atoms. LDF gets its name from the German-American physicist “Fritz London”.

PTFE Applications

• Plumbing and heating applications
• Non-stick cookware
• Food processing industry
• Automotive
• Textile sector

the most commonly known application is by plumbers and heating engineers to seal joints.

It is also used as a non-stick coating for pans, cookware and even industrial food processing machinery. It is very non-reactive, partly because of the strength of carbon–fluorine bonds, and so it is often the choice of material used in containers and pipework for corrosive and reactive chemicals.

Where used as a lubricant, PTFE reduces friction, wear, and energy consumption of machinery. Its used across the Automotive, Food and Textile manufacturing sectors.

It is commonly believed that Teflon is an off shoot product from the early NASA space developments. Although it has been used by NASA this is in fact incorrect.

[su_box title=”Our Range of PTFE Products” style=”soft” box_color=”#e2e2e2″ title_color=”#8b8b8b” radius=”4″]PTFE
Our most popular tape with a PTFE coated fibreglass and a silicone pressure sensitive adhesive
UHMW
Our UHMW tapes are offered up to 610mm wide and are supplied on 33m coils
SKIVED PTFE TAPE
Skived PTFE tape is made from pure, non-reinforced PTFE for certain applications where extended life is required
PTFE ZONE TAPE
PTFE zone tapes are made in house on our specialist machine to your specific request from PTFE coated glass cloths that have double sided adhesive strips down each edge on one surface, leaving the centre clear[/su_box]