PVC & PTFE Material Comparison

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic material accidentally invented in the late 1930s while a chemist was endeavoring to develop a new type of perfluorethylene-based refrigerant. Rather than achieving a chlorofluorocarbon, the scientist was surprised to find that the perfluorethylene used in the process reacted with the iron content of its container and polymerized it under pressure. Less than a decade later, this new material was being distributed on a commercial scale and was eventually patented under the name Teflon®. It would be another 20 years before this material would hit the frying pan and become known as the first non-stick coating for cookware, however. In fact, this material was used for a variety of other purposes at first.