How was PTFE discovered?

In April 1938, Roy J.Plunkett was experimenting and researching with chlorofluorocarbon refrigerants at DuPont's Jackson laboratory. He stored his samples in small cylinders, but overnight, a sample of one hundred pounds of TFE gas (which had been stored at dry-ice temperature as it was being prepared to be chlorinated) had gone! When Plunkett and his assistant prepared the cylinder for use, none of the gas came out and yet the cylinder weighed just as much as it had before. When they opened the cylinder up, they found the gas had polymerised into a whitish, waxy solid. Rather than throw away what seemed like a simple mistake, Plunkett and his assistant subjected the polymer to a variety of chemical tests and discovered it had some very unsual properties. The product was later trademarked in 1945 as "Teflon"® by DuPont. Plunkett continued to remain with DuPont all his career although he moved to different areas within the company before retiring in 1975.

Roy J.Plunkett (1910 - 1994)