Welcome to Chemical and Industrial Plastics

History

The story of P.T.F.E began on April 6, 1938 at Du Pont's JACKSON LABORATORY in New Jersey. Dr Roy J. Plunkett who was working with gases related to FROEN* refrigerants discovered that one sample had polymerized spontaneously to a white waxy solid.

Testing showed this solid to be remarkable material indeed. It was resistant to practically every known chemical of solvent; its surface was so slippery that almost no substance would stick to it; moisture did not cause it to swell and it did not degrade, or become brittle after long-term exposure to sunlight. It had a melting point of 327oC and, as opposed to conventional thermoplastics; the resin would not flow above the melting point! Therefore, processing techniques stemming from power metallurgy had to be developed.

Borrowing from this technology Du Pont engineers were able to compress and sinter P.T.F.E resins into blocks that could be machined into desired shapes. Later came dispersions of the resin in water to coat. Glass cloth and make enamels. A power was developed that could be blended with a lubricant and extruded to the desired shape to coat wire and manufacture tubing.

World War II provided impetus to this development, and by 1948, 10 years after the discovers of P.T.F.E Du Pont was teaching processing technology to it's customers. Soon a commercial plant was on stream, and P.T.F.E resins became available in dispersions, granular resins and fine powder.

Chemical and Industrial Plastics

CIP is a leading manufacturer of PTFE products in South Africa, products such as PTFE/PFA Lined pipe and fittings,

HALAR / ETFE & PTFE non-stick coatings, PTFE Bellows, gaskets & seals, PTFE / PEEK sheet, rod, tube and glass cloth,

PTFE ball valve kits, EPDM / VITON envelope gaskets, PFA machined parts, Polypropylene, UHDPE Polyethylene & PTFE Laboratory equipment.

P.T.F.E Fluorocarbon Resins in Chemical Service:

1. Chemical Inertness: P.T.F.E can be in continuous contact with another substance with no detatable chemical reaction taking place.
2. Absorption: Absorptivities in P.T.F.E are unusually low. However, when absorption is combined with other effects this property can influence the serviceability of these resins is a particular chemical environment.
3. Non-Stick: P.T.F.E has non-stick properties and nothing would adhere to it.
4. Chemical Service: Resist the most aggressive organic and inorganic chemicals and solvents, over a wide temperature range.
5. Cold: Remain tough, stable and completely functional down to cryogenic temperatures. Their impact resistance at these temperatures is better than that of most polymers.

Processing of P.T.F.E

Unlike thermoplastics the viscosity of the gel above the melting point is too high for P.T.F.E to be processed by traditional methods [injection or transfer moulding, rotational moulding...]

The process includes three systematic steps:

• the compression of polymers at ambient temperature
• sintering
• slow cooling down