What’s the Difference Between Teflon and PTFE - Holscot answers

25 Sep.,2023

 

What’s the Difference Between Teflon™ and PTFE

The simple answer is that they are the same thing: Teflon™ is a brand name for PTFE (Polytetrafluoroethylene) and is a trademark brand name used by the Du Pont company and its subsidiary companies (Kinetic which first registered the trademark & Chemours which currently owns it).

In the same way as you can buy a brand name cereal in the supermarket (like Kellogg’s Cornflakes) or one without the brand name &, likewise, you can buy a brand-name medicine or, once the patent expires, you can buy a ‘generic’ medicine which is the same, so you can use Teflon™ and PTFE interchangeably.

Names like Teflon™ help to make products into household names & help to distinguish them in the marketplace.

What is Teflon™/PTFE?

PTFE is a fluoropolymer with a number of properties that make it extremely useful. These include:

  • Extremely low friction (this is why Teflon™ is marketed as being non-stick)
  • High melting point – this is why Teflon™ can be applied to the inside of frying pans
  • Good temperature resistance – PTFE can perform at higher and lower temperatures
  • Inert – it dies not react with a large number of corrosive and hazardous substances meaning that it can be used in a wide variety of industrial applications.

Most of these properties are due to the carbon – fluorine bonds in PTFE. Unlike carbon – hydrogen bonds in many other polymers, carbon – fluorine bond is stronger and highly polarized.

The Difference: Marketing

The main difference between Teflon™ and PTFE is that Teflon™ will be more expensive and that you will have to apply for a license if you want to use the Teflon™ trademark. This is because a lot of time and energy has been spent building the Teflon™ name over the last 75 years and it is a well-known shorthand for products that have high performance and durability.

You can apply for that licence here.

PTFE and Teflon™ are used extensively within Holscot Fluoropolymers Ltd, it is an extremely robust material and one that we have a great depth of experience handling. Please do contact us if you have industrial problems where fluoropolymers might be the solution.

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