ForMatter/Materials/polymer/Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)
mat_ptfe_teflon

Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE)

fully-fluorinated thermoplastic, lowest-friction polymer · PTFE, Teflon (Chemours brand), fluon (AGC brand)
highlast updated 2026-04-27
metallic 0.00
hue shift +0°

The slipperiest solid in commercial use — almost nothing sticks to PTFE, almost no chemicals attack it, and almost no temperature short of 260 °C bothers it. Non-stick cookware, plumber's tape, gasket sheets, lab beakers' inert linings. The one polymer that seems to be a special case in any trade-off chart you put it in. The cost is that it doesn't melt-process the way other thermoplastics do — most PTFE parts are sintered from compressed powder.

(–CF₂–CF₂–)ₙ, fully fluorinated semi-crystalline polymer. Tm 327 °C but doesn't form a flowable melt — sintered from compacted powder above ~370 °C. Density 2.20 g/cm³. Coefficient of friction against steel 0.04 (the lowest of any common engineering material). Service temperature -200 °C to +260 °C. Inert to all common acids, bases, and solvents short of molten alkali metals.

mechanical

  • tensile_strength_mpa25
  • yield_strength_mpa12
  • elongation_pct_at_break350
  • coefficient_of_friction_vs_steel0.04
  • density_kg_m32200
source: MakeItFrom; Chemours Teflon technical bulletin

thermal

  • melting_point_c327
  • service_max_c260
  • service_min_c-200
source: Chemours technical bulletin

Sustainability

  • embodied carbon kg co2e per kg9.0
  • sourceEditorial estimate from ICE / Granta CES EduPack class databases — industry mean, with cradle-to-gate boundary unless otherwise noted. Embodied carbon for any specific product depends on supplier mix, recycled content, and energy grid; verify against a primary source before using these numbers in a sustainability claim.
  • recyclabilitylow — hard to depolymerize; closed-loop reclaim of clean scrap exists at industrial scale
  • biodegradableFalse
  • certificationsFDA 21 CFR 177.1550 (food contact)
visual
characteristic chalk-white opacity, waxy gloss as machined
tactile
the slipperiest thing under the fingertip in most workshops; cool to the touch despite the warm-to-touch low conductivity, because it conducts heat away from the skin slowly

PBR starter values

Principled BSDF defaults derived from the sphere matte finish. Reasonable seed for Blender, Substance, Keyshot, Rhino — tune per material.

# finish:      matte
albedo        #f0f0ec
metallic      0.00
roughness     0.75
ior           1.45
transmission  0.00
clearcoat     0.00
sheen         0.00
anisotropic   0.00
copy as JSON 
{
  "albedo": "#f0f0ec",
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.75,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "transmission": 0.0,
  "clearcoat": 0.0,
  "sheen": 0.0,
  "anisotropic": 0.0
}
Blender 4.x Python 
# Blender 4.x — Principled BSDF
# Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) · finish: matte
import bpy
mat = bpy.data.materials.new(name="mat_ptfe_teflon")
mat.use_nodes = True
bsdf = mat.node_tree.nodes["Principled BSDF"]
bsdf.inputs["Base Color"].default_value         = (0.8714, 0.8714, 0.8388, 1.0)
bsdf.inputs["Metallic"].default_value           = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Roughness"].default_value          = 0.750
bsdf.inputs["IOR"].default_value                = 1.450
bsdf.inputs["Transmission Weight"].default_value = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Coat Weight"].default_value        = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Sheen Weight"].default_value       = 0.000
bsdf.inputs["Anisotropic"].default_value        = 0.000
KeyShot Python (lux) 
# KeyShot 11+ — lux Python API, Generic material
# Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) · finish: matte
# Run from Window → Scripting Console
import lux
mat = lux.createMaterial(name="mat_ptfe_teflon", materialType="Generic")
mat.setProperty("diffuse",      (240, 240, 236))   # 8-bit sRGB
mat.setProperty("metallic",     0.000)
mat.setProperty("roughness",    0.750)
mat.setProperty("indexOfRefraction", 1.450)
mat.setProperty("transparency", 0.000)
mat.setProperty("coatingWeight", 0.000)
Substance pbrMetalRough 
{
  "_format": "Substance Designer / Painter \u2014 pbrMetalRough constants",
  "_about": "Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) \u00b7 finish: matte",
  "baseColor": {
    "r": 0.8714,
    "g": 0.8714,
    "b": 0.8388
  },
  "metallic": 0.0,
  "roughness": 0.75,
  "ior": 1.45,
  "opacity": 1.0,
  "anisotropyLevel": 0.0,
  "_notes": "Channels listed are the standard Substance pbrMetalRough output. Drop into a Uniform Color node per channel, or as the constant input on a layered stack."
}
glTF 2.0 Metallic-Roughness 
{
  "asset": {
    "version": "2.0",
    "generator": "ForMatter"
  },
  "materials": [
    {
      "name": "mat_ptfe_teflon",
      "pbrMetallicRoughness": {
        "baseColorFactor": [
          0.8714,
          0.8714,
          0.8388,
          1.0
        ],
        "metallicFactor": 0.0,
        "roughnessFactor": 0.75
      },
      "extensions": {
        "KHR_materials_ior": {
          "ior": 1.45
        }
      }
    }
  ]
}
USD Preview Surface 
# USD Preview Surface — UsdShade.MaterialLook prim attributes
# Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) · finish: matte
def Material "mat_ptfe_teflon" {
    token outputs:surface.connect = </mat_ptfe_teflon/PreviewSurface.outputs:surface>

    def Shader "PreviewSurface" {
        uniform token info:id = "UsdPreviewSurface"
        color3f inputs:diffuseColor = (0.8714, 0.8714, 0.8388)
        float   inputs:metallic     = 0.000
        float   inputs:roughness    = 0.750
        float   inputs:ior          = 1.450
        float   inputs:opacity      = 1.000
        float   inputs:clearcoat    = 0.000
        token   outputs:surface
    }
}
↓ download glTF material
ProcessCNC Milling · Adhesive Bonding

Citations