
Kinetic Chemicals patented the new fluorinated plastic (analogous to the already known polyethylene) in 1941, and registered the Teflon trademark in 1945. Analysis showed that it was polymerized perfluoroethylene, with the iron from the inside of the container having acted as a catalyst at high pressure. He found the bottle's interior coated with a waxy white material that was oddly slippery. Since Plunkett was measuring the amount of gas used by weighing the bottle, he became curious as to the source of the weight, and finally resorted to sawing the bottle apart.

As Plunkett attempted to make a new chlorofluorocarbon refrigerant, the tetrafluoroethylene gas in its pressure bottle stopped flowing before the bottle's weight had dropped to the point signaling "empty". Plunkett while he was working in New Jersey for DuPont. Polytetrafluoroethylene was accidentally discovered in 1938 by Roy J. Logo of Teflon, the commonly known brand name of PTFE-based compositions manufactured by Chemours It is used as a graft material in surgery and as a coating on catheters. Where used as a lubricant, PTFE reduces friction, wear, and energy consumption of machinery. It is non-reactive, partly because of the strength of carbon–fluorine bonds, so it is often used in containers and pipework for reactive and corrosive chemicals. Polytetrafluoroethylene is used as a non-stick coating for pans and other cookware. PTFE has one of the lowest coefficients of friction of any solid.

PTFE is hydrophobic: neither water nor water-containing substances wet PTFE, as fluorocarbons exhibit only small London dispersion forces due to the low electric polarizability of fluorine. Polytetrafluoroethylene is a fluorocarbon solid, as it is a high- molecular-weight polymer consisting wholly of carbon and fluorine. The commonly known brand name of PTFE-based composition is Teflon by Chemours, a spin-off from DuPont, which originally discovered the compound in 1938.

It is one of the most well-known and widely applied PFAS. Polytetrafluoroethylene ( PTFE) is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene that has numerous applications.
