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Fluoropolymers Explained: Basics and Applications

Various industries, including aerospace, automotive, electronics, packaging, and medical use these unique plastics.
Various industries, including aerospace, automotive, electronics, packaging, and medical use these unique plastics.

Fluoropolymers enhance various applications across multiple industries, including aerospace, automotive, electronics, packaging, and medical.

Fluoropolymers are fluorine-based polymers used in various industries. Fluorine gives these polymers unique characteristics, with the strong bonds formed between carbon and fluorine atoms. These bonds provide higher bond energy than carbon-hydrogen bonds, giving the polymers distinctive attributes.

You can also read: Fluoropolymers Life Cycle and PFAS Contamination

Fluorine is the Key

Perfluorinated chemicals (PFCs), characterized by their exclusive carbon-fluorine and carbon-carbon bonds, offer exceptional chemical and weather resistance. Furthermore, the small dipole moment of PFCs enhances their oil and water-repellency, low surface tension, and reduced adhesion. Consequently, these properties render fluoropolymers ideal for a wide range of applications.

Additionally, partially fluorinated polymers exhibit high dielectric constants and optical activity due to fluorine’s electron-attracting ability. This enhances acidity and lipophilicity in small molecules, making fluorine-substituted compounds suitable for pharmaceuticals.

Moreover, the strength of the C-F bond, combined with fluorine’s low polarizability and high electronegativity, endows fluoropolymers with soil resistance, insulating properties, and gas barrier capabilities. These characteristics make fluoropolymers highly versatile and valuable in multiple industries.

Main Applications for Fluoropolymers

Various industries, including aerospace, automotive, electronics, packaging, and medical, utilize these unique plastics. The following table outlines the properties and industrial applications of items made from fluoropolymers.

Chemical/Electrical/Automotive Industry

Application areaKey propertiesTypical usesTypically used fluoropolymers
Chemical/petrochemical industry

 

Chemical resistance

Good mechanical properties

Thermal stability

Cryogenic properties

Gaskets, vessel liners, pumps, valve and pipe liners, tubings, coatings,

expansion joints/bellows, heat exchangers

 

PTFE, PFA/MFA

ETFE, ECTFE

FEP

FKM, FFKM

TFE-P

 

Electrical/electronic industryLow dielectric constant

High volume/surface resistivity

High dielectric breakdown

voltage

Flame resistance, Thermal

stability

Wire and cable Insulation, connectors, optical fibers, printed circuit

boards

FEP, PTFE, PFA, MFA

ETFE, ECTFE

PCTFE

amorphous FP

Automotive/aircraft industryLow coefficient of friction

Good mechanical properties

Cryogenic properties,

Chemical resistance

Low permeation properties

Seals, O-Rings, hoses in automotive power steering, transmissions, and

air conditioning, bearings, sensors

fuel management systems.

FKM, PTFE

FFKM

THV

Medical/ Coatings/Additives Industry

Application areaKey propertiesTypical usesTypically used fluoropolymers
CoatingsThermal/weather stability

Low surface energy

Chemical resistance

Cookware coatings, coatings of metal surfaces, powder coatingsPTFE

PVDF, ETFE

FEVE, PFA

MedicalLow surface energy, stability,

purity

Excellent mechanical

properties

Cardiovascular grafts, heart patches, ligament replacement

packaging films for medical products

PTFE, PCTFE
Polymer additivesLow coefficient of friction

Flame resistance

Abrasion resistance

Antistick properties

Polyolefin processing to avoid surface defects and for faster processing.

Additives for inks, coatings, lubricants, anti-dripping agents

THV, FKM

PVDF, PTFE

Energy Conversion/Textiles/ Semiconductor Industry

Application areaKey propertiesTypical usesTypically used fluoropolymers
Semiconductor industryChemical resistance

High purity

Antiadhesion, insulation,

barrier properties

Thermal stability

Process surfaces

wafer carriers

tubing, valves, pumps and fittings, storage tanks

PFA, ECTFE

PCTE, PTFE

amorphous FP

Energy conversion/storage

Renewable energies

Chemical/thermal resistance

Ion-transportation

High weatherability

High transparency

Corrosion resistance

Binder for electrodes, separators, ion-selective membranes, gaskets,

membrane-reinforcements, films for photovoltaics

coatings for wind mill blades

PVDF, Fluoroionomers

(PFSA), THV, ETFE

ECTFE, PTFE, FEP

PVF

General architectural/fabric/

film applications

Excellent weatherability

Flame resistance

Transparency

Low surface energy

Barrier properties

Coated fabrics and films for buildings/roofs, front/backside films for

solar applications

ETFE, PTFE, PVDF

PCTFE, PVF, THV

Table “Major properties and item-industrial applications made from fluoropolymers”. Reproduced from Fluoropolymers: The Right Material for the Right Applications- Bruno Ameduri.

Fluoropolymers are Considered PFAS

The European Chemicals Agency and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) defined PFAS as fluorinated substances that contain in their structure at least one fully fluorinated methyl or methylene carbon atom (without any H/Cl/Br/I atom attached to it).

That is, with a few noted exceptions, any chemical with at least a perfluorinated methyl group (–CF3) or a perfluorinated methylene group (–CF2).

As a result, PFAS can have widely varying properties, including being polymers or non-polymers; solids, liquids, or gases; persistent or non-persistent; highly reactive or inert; mobile or insoluble; and either (eco)toxic or non-toxic. Fluoropolymers, a family of high-performance plastics, contain strong carbon-fluorine (C-F) bonds. In conclusion, according to the definition, most fluoropolymers are classified as PFAS.

You can also read: Fluoropolymers are Considered PFAS

Other resources:

Fluoropolymers: The Right Material for the Right Applications, Bruno Ameduri

Perfluorinated Chemicals (PFCs): Contaminants of Concern. Nicholas P. Cheremisinoff.

By Juliana Montoya | August 8, 2024

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