Summary for teflon sheet bonding Discussion
Teflon sheet bonding is the core issue here, and Freeman Newton says plain PTFE sheet cannot be joined with adhesive at all. He also warns that many people call several fluoropolymers “Teflon,” so the material should be identified first: some lower-grade materials such as FEP, Halar, or Tefzel can be interwelded, but still not cemented. A later answer says Teflon can be bonded after treating the surface with a fluoroetchant, and notes that the writer has bonded Teflon to glass this way. The thread therefore presents two different approaches: no adhesive bond for true PTFE, versus surface treatment for special cases or other fluoropolymers. The practical takeaway is that the exact resin matters before choosing a joining method.
Q. I want to make a pipe of Teflon® made form Teflon® sheet.
Can you please suggest a adhesive that can fix a Teflon® sheet to another sheet?
Chinmay Nandi
– Kolkata, WB, India
2003
A. Hi Chinmay,
Oh dear… you say you have a ‘Teflon’ sheet and want to join it to another Teflon sheet.
No go… you can’t, sorry!
Mind you, I’m suspicious when someone says ‘Teflon’ … is it the McCoy ‘PTFE’ or is a lower grade of something such as FEP Teflon, Halar or Tefzel… all of which are interweldable but NOT cementable at all!
Freeman Newton [deceased] (It is our sad duty to advise that Freeman passed away
April 21, 2012. R.I.P. old friend).
2003
Freeman, some Teflon can be “glued”. It takes a metallic sodium etch followed rapidly with a proprietary adhesive.
James Watts
– Navarre, Florida
2003
James,
Yup, I know that Teflon sheets can be ‘glued’ but only if they have one side treated… heck, this is a standard dual laminate approach. But the Teflon ain’t Teflon, it isn’t the McCoy PTFE but a weldable grade such as FEP Teflon or HALAR or TEFZEL… All of which are weldable fluorocarbons which PTFE is NOT !
But in any case, I assume that Chinmay wants to ‘edge’ join one sheet to another… and that is a no-go… and only possible using the weldable fluorocarbons and using welding to form a monolithic surface.
Freeman Newton [deceased] (It is our sad duty to advise that Freeman passed away
April 21, 2012. R.I.P. old friend).
2003
A. Hi,
I have bonded Teflon to glass a number of times. The way I do it is this. I make the Teflon surface bondable by using a fluoroetchant (https://ptfecatalog.actontech.com/category/fluoroetch-safety-solvent/). Then you can use any glue/epoxy you want.
The etchant reacts only with the surface, leaving the body untouched. However, it makes the etched surface black.
Best of Luck,
Samrat Mukherjee
– Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, USA
2005
2005
A. I found this product — Chemgrip Teflon Bonding Kit — that might work for you.
usplastic.com/catalog/product.asp?catalog%5Fname=USPlastic&product%5Fid=12176
Jeffrey C. Hall
– Pawcatuck, Connecticut
Ed. note, Dec. 2012: Sorry, we no longer see that or a similar product at US Plastics site
December 17, 2012
A. “Teflon” is a trade name used by DuPont and consists of many plastic materials including PTFE, PFA & FEP. When specifying your material requirements please be careful of using ambiguous trade names.
Teflon® DuPont refers to PTFE (usually)
Halar ® Ausimont (Solvay) refers to E-CTFE
Kynar ® Arkema refers to PVDF
PTFE is not melt processable and requires proprietary techniques to weld (thermofuse) or bond (glue).
PFA is melt processable and can be welded using heat.
ECTFE is melt processable and can be welded using heat.
Hope this helps clarify. By the way, we use Halar/E-CTFE for many finishing applications and it’s much easier and safer to work with (fumes are not as harmful as PFA).
Cheers,
-Alex
Alex Gambino
– Malden, Massachusetts, USA
A. Fluoron Inc. (Elkton MD) can seam/weld PTFE into a tube. They provided the material and size tube I needed.
Chris Geary
– Newark, Delaware, USA
January 6, 2017