Teflon is the brand name of a compound discovered by Roy J. Plunkett (1910-1994) of DuPont in 1938 and introduced as a commercial product in 1949.
Teflon is polytetratetrafluoroethene (PTFE).
F F | |R - C - C - R
| | F F
Teflon is also used as the trade name for a polymer with similar properties, perfluoroalkoxy polymer resin (PFA):
F F F F | | | |R - C - C - C - C - R
| | | |
F F F O
|
F - C - F
|
F
Teflon is the plastic with the lowest coefficient of friction. It is also used as a non-stick coating for pans and other cookware. Teflon is very unreactive, and so is often used in containers and pipework for reactive chemicals. Its melting point is 327 °C.
Teflon is sometimes said to be a spin-off from the US space program with more down-to-earth applications, even though it was first sold commercially long before in 1946.
Teflon has been supplemented with another DuPont product, Silverstone, a three-coat fluoropolymer system that produces a more durable finish than Teflon. Silverstone was released in 1976.