Teflon is DuPont's trademark name for polytetrafluoroethylene, a synthetic fluoropolymer made entirely of carbon and fluorine atoms, valued for its extreme resistance to heat and chemical attack and its exceptionally low surface friction. The American chemist Roy J. Plunkett discovered the material by accident in 1938 at a DuPont laboratory in New Jersey, when a cylinder of refrigerant gas he was working with had polymerized on its own into an oddly slippery, waxy white solid; DuPont patented the discovery in 1941 and registered the Teflon trademark in 1945. The material is manufactured by the free-radical polymerization of tetrafluoroethylene gas and today coats non-stick cookware and industrial machinery parts, with roughly half of production going into insulating wiring for aerospace and computer applications.
Facts
Patent or First-Use Date YearSourced to the subject's own account SignificancePlunkett found the accidentally polymerized material to be heat resistant and chemically inert with very low surface friction, properties that made it valuable to the Manhattan Project's gaseous diffusion process during World War II before its later widespread commercial use in cookware and industrial coatings. 3 FAQs
Was Teflon first made for non-stick cookware?
No. Its first use was in the Manhattan Project, and cookware came years later.
No. Teflon was first put to work in the gaseous diffusion process of the Manhattan Project, and Teflon pots and pans were invented years later. Roy J. Plunkett found the accidentally made substance to be heat resistant and chemically inert, with very low surface friction so that most other substances would not adhere to it, and those properties are what made it useful first in demanding industrial settings.
Connections
Associated With
PTFE, Materials Teflon is DuPont's brand name for PTFE; the two entities record the same substance under its material and its branded-invention identity.
Source Roy J. Plunkett - Science History Institute
In Field
Source Roy J. Plunkett - Science History Institute
Invented By
Source Roy J. Plunkett - Science History Institute
Sources
1. US Patent 2,230,654, Tetrafluoroethylene polymers
Patent header, filing and issue datesQuote, Patent header, filing and issue dates
This invention relates to new compositions of matter, being polymers of exceptional properties.
2. Polytetrafluoroethylene (Wikipedia)
WikipediaLead section
which originally invented the compound in 1938
- In Group: Synthetic Polymers and Polymerization Processes, lead sentence
View the Source 3. Roy J. Plunkett - Science History Institute
Biography, discovery narrative
When he and his helper prepared a cylinder for use, none of the gas came out, yet the cylinder weighed the same as before. They opened it and found a white powder, which Plunkett had the presence of mind to characterize for properties other than refrigeration potential.
Biography, properties and wartime use
He found the substance to be heat resistant and chemically inert, and to have very low surface friction so that most other substances would not adhere to it.
Associated With: Roy J. Plunkett, Page text
Teflon, discovered by Roy J. Plunkett (1910-1994) at the DuPont Company’s Jackson Laboratory in 1938, was an accidental invention-unlike most of the other polymer products.
Invented By: Roy J. Plunkett, Page text
Teflon, discovered by Roy J. Plunkett (1910-1994) at the DuPont Company’s Jackson Laboratory in 1938, was an accidental invention-unlike most of the other polymer products.
In Field: Chemical Engineering, Page text
From the 1930s to the present, beginning with neoprene and nylon, the American chemical industry has introduced a cornucopia of polymers to the consumer.
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