Collected by Alfred 0. GarreW Ohio State University
Columbus
I I
The flash of Genius,
Teflon: Roy J. Plunkett
The discovery of the plastic Teflon, which is very stable toward decomposition at high temperatures and is highly resistant to the action of highly corrosive chemicals, was made by Roy J. Plunkett only a. few years after he completed his doctorate at the Ohio State University. The account of this discovery is another example of careful observation and a nrenared mind. 6r. Plunkett describes his diacoveryl of the polymer now named Teflon.V
"During the summer of 1938, while I was a research chemist at the Jackson Laboratory of E. I. duPont de Xemours and Company, Penns Grove, New Jersey, I was carrying out research studies in the preparation of fluorochlorohydrocarbons. "For the solution of one of my problems, I was interested in a supply of tetrafluoroethylene. Up until this time tetrafluoroethylene had been made only in very small quantities in laboratory studies. I desired to have up to 100 pounds of this material. After carrying out some laboratory experiments, I devised a pilot plant process for producing the desired quantities of tetrafluoroethylene from dichlorotetrafluoroethane. The tetrafluoroethylene was placed in cylinders and stored in a cold storage box cooled with solid carbon dioxide.
' Personal communication. E., AND 2 H ~W. ~ ~ JOYCE, ~ ~P. M., ~ J ., Am. Chem. Sac., 68,2082(1946). 'RENFREW, M. M.,AND LEWIS,E. E., Ind. and Eng. C A a . , 38,870(1946).
288 / lournd of Chemical Educafion
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"My further research involved the reaction of tetrafluoroethylene with other chemicals to ~roducenovel componuds. "One day with the aid of my helper, Jack Rehok, I was vaporizing tetrafluoroethylene from a small cylinder which had contained a ~ ~ r o x i m a t e 2l v~ o u n d sof tetrafluoroetbylene. The &;eons tetrafluoroethylene which emerged from a cylinder located on a platform scale a a s passed through flow meters and then led into the reacting chambers where the tetrafluoroethylene was to he reacted with other chemicals. "On this particular day, soon after the experiment started my helper called to my attention that the flow of tetrafluoroethylene had stopped. I checked the weight of the cylinder and found that it still contained a sizeable quantity of material which I thought to be tetrafluoroethylene. I opened the valve completely and ran a wire through the valve opening but no gas escaped. When I shook the cylinder and found there was some solid material inside, I then removed the valve and was able to pour the white powder from the cylinder. Finally, with the aid of a hack saw, the cylinder was opened and a considerably greater quantity of white powder was obtained. "It was obvious immediately to me that the tetrafluoroethylene had polymerized and the white powder was a polymer of tetrafluoroethylene. "Following this discovery, I immediately took steps to characterize the white powder and to determine ways and means by which it could be formed."
