The chemistry of the majority of fluoroplastics is derived from compounds used in the refrigeration industry. The monomers for commercially important large-volume fluoropolymers are shown in Table 1. These can be combined to yield homopolymers, copolymers and terpolymers. The resulting products are resins with unique properties not achievable by other polymeric materials. In general, they exhibit the following properties:

• Chemical inertness

• Nonstick or non-wetting surface (hydrophobicity, low dirt pickup)

• Low coefficient of friction

• Resistance to elevated temperatures

The specific properties depend on the structure of the polymer, with considerable variations from the presence of atoms other than fluorine in the backbone of the polymer.

The main factor responsible for the previously mentioned properties is the very high strength of the C-F bond (see Table 2). The polymer with the most pronounced fluoropolymeric properties is PTFE, known under the original trade name of Teflon. Because of the large size and mutual repulsion of...