Buildings
Structure, lining, insulation or finish depending on family.
PTFE earns its keep in systems: a beam, a batt, a fibre blend, a coated steel — rarely a lone coupon.
Products below are cultural landmarks as much as SKUs.
Sectors
Transport
Mass, fire and fatigue rewrite the grade list.
Energy
Heat, voltage and hydrogen compatibility.
Consumer
The volume that pays for the mill.
Medical / food
When allowed — extractables and allergies matter.
Defence / safety
Ballistics, FR clothing, fire stops.
Products
Roy Plunkett
1938
Teflon pan
1960s–
Gore-Tex
1969–
Thread tape
1970s–
Pipe liner
1980s–
Labware
1950s–
Space suits lore
1960s
Bearing pads
1970s–
Pairings
silicone
The other high-temp elastomer/plastic in kitchens.
polyethylene
The cheap olefin PTFE replaced in hostile chemistry.
glass
Lined steel vs glass-lined — different plants choose differently.
nomex
High-temp textile vs high-temp plastic.
If the pairing is wrong, the material will be blamed for a system fault.
Keep exploring
More in Polymers
🧴
Polyethylene
The world’s volume plastic — bags, bottles, pipes and the UHMWPE cousin in medical and ballistic fibre.
Overall 40 🛞Natural rubber
Cis-1,4-polyisoprene from Hevea — tyres still drink most of the world’s latex.
Overall 44 🫧Silicone
Si–O backbone elastomers and resins — bakeware, medical tubing, façade sealants and a kinder high-temp story than carbon chains.
Overall 55