Fluoropolymer
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A fluoropolymer is a polymer that contains atoms of fluorine. They are characterized by an unusually high resistance to solvents, acids, and bases.
Fluoropolymers were discovered serendipitously in 1938 by Dr. Roy J. Plunkett. He was working on freon (for the DuPont corporation) and accidentally polymerized tetrafluoroethylene. The result was PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene), more commonly known as Teflon. It turned out to be a material with the lowest coefficient of friction of any known solid material and inert to virtually all chemicals.
Types of fluoropolymeres
Examples of fluoropolymers:
- PTFE (polytetrafluoroethylene, Teflon)
- PFA (perfluoroalkoxy polymer resin, also known as Teflon)
- FEP (fluorinated ethylene-propylene, also known as Teflon)
- ETFE (Tefzel), (Fluon)
- ECTFE (Turcite, Halar)
- PVDF (Kynar)
- TFE (trifluoroethanol)
- FPM
- CTFE
- FFKM (Kalrez, Tecnoflon FFKM)
- FKM (Viton, Tecnoflon)
Fluoropolymers may be either thermosets or thermoplastics.
See also
Polyethylenes: Polyethylene (PE), Low density polyethylene (LDPE), High density polyethylene (HDPE), Linear low density polyethylene (LLDPE), Crosslinked polyethylene (XLPE), Ultra High Molecular Weight Polyethylene (UHMWPE)
Other Polyolefins: Polypropylene (PP), Biaxially-oriented polypropylene, Polybutylene (PB), Polyisobutene (PIB)
Polyacrylates: Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polymethyl acrylate (PMA), hydroxyethyl methacrylate (HEMA), Sodium polyacrylate
Polystyrenes: Polystyrene (PS), High impact polystyrene (HIPS), Extruded polystyrene (XPS), Expanded Polystyrene
Polyesters: Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
Polysulfones: Polysulfone (PSU), Polyarylsulfone (PAS), Polyethersulfone PES, Polyphenylsulfone (PPS)
Polyamides: Polyamide (PA), polyphthalamide (PPA), Bismaleimide (BMI), urea formaldehyde (UF)
Polyurethanes: Polyurethane (PU), Polyisocyanurate (PIR)
Chloropolymers: Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polyvinylidene dichloride (PVDC)
(Chloro)fluoropolymers: Fluoropolymer (FE), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), Polyvinylidene difluoride (PVDF), Polychlorotrifluoroethlyene (PCTFE), Ethylene chlorotrifluoroethlyene (ECTFE)
Other Homopolymers: Polycarbonate (PC), Polylactic acid (PLA), Polyacrylamide (PAM), Polyetheretherketone (PEEK)
Other Copolymers: Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), Polybutadiene acrylonitrile (PBAN)
