PTFE: the New Star of Materials in the Era of High-frequency Communication

PublishTime： 2023-11-01 Article Source：Futureway News

PTFE is the fluoropolymer with the highest proportion, and it is also an extension product downstream of R22. Relying on a special molecular structure, PTFE has excellent performance in corrosion resistance, self-lubricating, non-stick, and biological inertness, and is widely used in automobiles, electronics, chemicals, and the medical treatment field. In the 5G high-frequency communication era, PTFE ushered in another spring. As a resin material with the lowest dielectric constant and dielectric loss coefficient, it is expected to become a key material for high-frequency communication. From an industry perspective, the demand for PTFE brought about by 5G base stations and mobile phones will grow with strong certainty in the next five years.

PTFE: the new star of materials in the era of high-frequency communication

PTFE is the most widely used fluoropolymer Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is an important type of fluoropolymer, polymerized from tetrafluoroethylene. The first half of the PTFE industry chain is consistent with the refrigerant industry chain. The upstream involves basic chemical raw materials, fluorite, methane, and liquid chlorine, and the midstream involves important fluorine chemical intermediate products, hydrofluoric acid. The downstream demand for finished PTFE mainly comes from machinery, electronics, chemicals anti-sticking Coating, and other fields.

Performance: Special structure guarantees corrosion resistance, lubrication, and biological inertness

PTFE has a special structure in which fluorine atoms protect carbon atoms. The structural formula of polytetrafluoroethylene is (CF2CF2)n. In polytetrafluoroethylene molecules, CF2 units are arranged in a zigzag shape. Since the van der Waals radius of fluorine atoms is slightly larger than that of hydrogen atoms, the van der Waals force between the atoms is larger, resulting in stronger production. Because of the repulsive force of fluorine, adjacent units cannot be completely cross-oriented in trans, but form a helical conformation. Because the fluorine atom has a suitable atomic radius, each fluorine atom can match the fluorine on the spaced carbon atom. Atoms are close together. This conformation enables fluorine atoms to surround the carbon-carbon backbone, forming a low surface energy protective layer, presenting a special structure in which fluorine atoms protect the vulnerable carbon chain.

The special structure of PTFE makes it possess the following characteristics:

Corrosion resistance: PTFE is the most chemically inert polymer material among the known organic compounds. Its special molecular structure makes it resistant to almost all strong acids (including aqua regia), strong bases, and organic solvents, and it can maintain this performance under high-temperature conditions. The lining of corrosive gas and liquid transportation pipelines is an important application scenario for PTFE.

Self-lubricating: The friction coefficient of PTFE is smaller than other engineering plastics, and it is the lowest friction coefficient of known practical sliding surface materials, and it is an ideal lubricating material. Because the lubricating grease will be completely dissolved by the solvent, some parts of the equipment cannot be added with lubricating oil. The filled PTFE has gradually evolved into an excellent material for oil-free lubrication of various parts, including the bearings of chemical equipment, piston rings, and supporting sliders of steel structure roof trusses. As well as bridging swivel and so on.

Non-stickiness: The friction coefficient of PTFE is extremely small, only 1/5 of polyethylene, and because the fluorine-carbon chain intermolecular force is extremely low, PTFE is non-sticky and is a commonly used coating material for non-stick pans.

Bio-inertness: PTFE, as a medical material, will not cause rejection of the body after being implanted in the human body, and has no physiological side effects on the human body. It was first used as an artificial blood vessel in the clinic in the 1970s. Nowadays, because of its excellent properties, polytetrafluoroethylene is used more and more widely in medicine, including artificial blood vessels and patches for soft tissue regeneration, and surgical sutures for blood vessels, heart, general surgery, and plastic surgery.

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