Teflon Tubing - PTFE, FEP, PFA, UHP PFA, PVDF, THV, Fluoropolymer, Fluoroplastic

Teflon®
What is “Teflon”?
Teflon is the name trademarked for a family of fluoropolymer products produced by E.I. Dupont Co.

How was “Teflon” developed?
In 1938, Dr. Roy Plunkett was working on a project to develop a new form of refrigerants. While working to develop the refrigerants, a by-product was formed possessing a unique combination of characteristics. This amazing slippery material proved inert to most chemicals. The product was given the name polytetrafluoroethylene – more commonly referred to as: PTFE.

Initially, PTFE resins and dispersions were used in the formation of products for the military during WWII. In 1944 the name TEFLON was trade-marked for this unique material. In the mid 1950’s, Dupont released PTFE resins for the commercial market resulting in a new series of PTFE tubing, pipe, rod & profile options.

Although TEFLON® PTFE had amazing properties, there were some limitations. In response to these limitations, DuPont developed a new form of TEFLON called fluorinated-ethylene-propylene – more commonly referred to as: FEP. The visual clarity of the FEP material was superior to that of PTFE. The methods of producing products from FEP differed from that of PTFE making it preferable for specific products such as tubing and pipe extrusion & injection molding. However, tubing and pipe produced from FEP also had limitations. To combat these limitations later products were developed under the TEFLON® banner: PFA, HP PFA & UHP PFA.

ALTAFLUOR® is a registered trademark of Altaflo LLC
Teflon® is a registered Trademark of E. I. Dupont
Neoflon® is a registered Trademark of Daikin

When customers ask for “Teflon” Tubing – what are they really requesting?
When customers request a tubing listed simply as “Teflon”, they may not be aware that there is a full family of tubing and pipe products available under that heading. They may also not be aware that there are other producers of PTFE, FEP, PFA, HP PFA and UHP PFA resins. While these resins cannot “technically” be called TEFLON®, they may possess the same, similar or superior properties – they are just produced by resin companies other than the E.I. Dupont Co.

Do I need “Teflon” Tubing for my application?
In order to determine the correct tubing or pipe product for your application, it is important to review the key properties of each fluoropolymer material against your application.

It is equally important to identify the grade of material offered by your supplier. Each resin grade has different performance values which may or may not make the tubing suitable for your specific application. Altaflo uses only the highest grades in each category to provide the best end-use performance values for your applications.

For more information on the materials listed above, please consult our catalog. If additional information or tubing samples are required, please contact our customer service department.

Products:
TEFLON®: Teflon® • PTFE: (PTFE) ALTAFLUOR 100® • FEP: (FEP) ALTAFLUOR 200® • (FEP ENVIRO) ALTAFLUOR 200-E® • PFA: (PFA) ALTAFLUOR 400® • (HP PFA) ALTAFLUOR 450® • (UHP PFA) ALTAFLUOR 480® • MFA: (MFA) ALTAFLUOR 600® • THV: (THV FLEX) ALTAFLUOR 350® • (THV) ALTAFLUOR 300® • PVDF: (PVDF) ALTAFLUOR 500® • (PVDF FLEX) ALTAFLUOR 550® • PEEK: PEEK Tubing

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