What is PTFE?
Well, what is PTFE? Polytetrafluoroethylene, commonly known as PTFE or Teflon®, is a synthetic fluoropolymer which comprises of carbon atoms, each one linked to two fluorine atoms.
As a fluorocarbon, PTFE has a high molecular weight which consists of fluorine atoms surrounding and protecting the carbon chain, thus creating the unique attributes that it is known for. PTFE has a melting point of 327°c, can maintain high strength, toughness and self-lubrication at temperatures as low as -268°c and has great flexibility at temperatures above -79°c.
Water and friction resistance
PTFE is a hydrophobic material meaning that neither water nor other water-containing substances can wet it therefore making it superior to many other hoses used for the same or similar applications. As well as this, PTFE is also one of the lowest coefficients of friction against any solid which makes it extremely easy to use in a hose application as it can be dragged across a surface with ease.
Easily cleanable and unrivalled temperature range
PTFE has found itself a lot of uses, one example is in cooking where it is used as a non-stick surface for pans and where it also has to resist very high temperatures. This example can be used as a representation for how well PTFE performs as a hose liner material as it’s non-stick surface makes it easily cleaned as well as being able to resist a temperature range of -150°c to +260°c, which far outperforms any other rubber or plastic material.
Chemical resistance
Perhaps its most famous attribute is PTFE’s extremely high resistance to chemicals and corrosives. There are only a handful of scenarios where PTFE would not be the first choice regarding a corrosive or chemical application and these are extremely unusual scenarios such as Fluorine gas at a high temperature or boiling sodium metal. Apart from these, PTFE performs considerably well in many chemical hose applications and should be the first choice when choosing a hose for your application.
It is for these reasons that our PTFE lined hoses are the number one, favourite and first choice at Flextech as they outperform almost every other hose material allowing us to ensure that you get a high quality, extremely durable, multi-purpose, cost-efficient hose.