Development of PTFE Materials

PTFE has entered all aspects of life as a versatile material with high temperature and corrosion resistance. So, what has been the development path of PTFE over the years? Heaters will take you through it today.

Development of PTFE in Europe and America

The development and application of membrane materials originated in Europe and the United States. What made membrane architecture famous in the world was the American Pavilion at the 1970 Osaka World Expo. It used PVC-coated glass fiber cloth membrane materials, but its service life was short.

To overcome the shortcomings of PVC architectural membranes, such as aging resistance and poor self-cleaning properties, with the support of the Ford Foundation and the leadership of Geiger Company, the American DuPont Corning Fiberglass Company, Baird Construction Company, and Chemical Fiber Weaving Company jointly developed A PFE membrane material with good durability and the anti-fouling tangible property has been set, making permanent large-span buildings a reality.

In 1973, this membrane material was used in the Student Activity Center of La Verne College in the United States. After 20 years, the follow-up test results showed that the mechanical properties and various physical performance indicators of this membrane material only decreased by less than 30%, which is enough to show the superiority of the membrane material in multiple properties.

The development of the PTFE membrane depends mainly on the ultra-fine glass dimension and its weaving technology. Glass fibers are generally made of alkali-free glass fibers with a monofilament diameter of about four μm and glass fibers). Due to the poor wear resistance and low elongation of glass fibers, friction impacts the strength and other mechanical properties of glass fibers during the weaving process. It has a significant influence and cannot meet the weaving requirements of the film base cloth, so ultra-fine glass fiber cloth is selected as the film base cloth.

With the development of processing and weaving technology, glass fibers of about six μm are also used in membrane materials. Still, glass fibers of about four μm are safer in large-span structures. The foreign ultra-fine glass fiber industry and weaving technology developed earlier, with better product performance and lower cost, can produce glass fiber cloths of various thicknesses that meet the requirements of membrane materials. The width of the fabric can exceed 4m, which can effectively reduce the splicing part of the membrane material and improve the performance of the membrane structure building.

With the development of various technologies, foreign PTFE membrane materials are gradually becoming diversified, high-performance, and intelligent.

At present, the largest production enterprises in Europe and the United States include Kaimei Chemfab in the United States, Taikangli Iconic Company, Mehler in Germany, Duquesne Raskin) in France, Saint-Gobain in France, Sun Industries in Japan, Taiyo Kogyo) The company, etc.

The United States was the first country to develop PTFE membrane materials. It has significant advantages in glass fiber and membrane materials and has always been in the world's leading position; Germany's membrane material development is also at the forefront of the world. PTFE membrane with a maximum width of 4.7m), its products are diversified; the French Saint-Gobain Company is a large-scale enterprise producing glass fiber and its consequences. It has significant advantages in the development of PTFE membrane materials. Supplier; Japan can create the world's thinnest glass fiber, and the fabric made of this fiber is used as the base cloth of the membrane material, making the membrane material more flexible and durable.

The Development History of PTFE in China

Membrane structure buildings appeared in my country in 1995, and the actual scale was formed in 1998, more than 30 years later than abroad.

However, the development scale of China's membrane structure is very encouraging. Since my country's first PTFE membrane building - Shanghai 80,000-person Gymnasium, was built in 1997, a series of permanent membrane structure buildings have been created, especially for the Olympic Games; several membrane structures have been made in the World Expo and Asian Games, such as the National Sports Center and the World Expo Axis. My country's demand for membrane materials is excellent, and the growth rate of membrane materials is more than 6%. However, my country's PTFE membrane materials used in large buildings are imported, and the engineering cost is very high.

Membrane structure buildings appeared in my country in 1995, and the actual scale was formed in 1998, more than 30 years later than abroad.

However, the development scale of China's membrane structure is very encouraging. Since my country's first PTFE membrane building - Shanghai 80,000-person Gymnasium, was built in 1997, a series of permanent membrane structure buildings have been created, especially for the Olympic Games; several membrane structures have been made in the World Expo and Asian Games, such as the National Sports Center and the World Expo Axis. My country's demand for membrane materials is excellent, and the growth rate of membrane materials is more than 6%. However, my country's PTFE membrane materials used in large buildings are imported, and the engineering cost is very high.

The domestic research on membrane materials started relatively late, and the progress could have been faster, mainly due to the slow development of my country's ultra-fine glass fiber industry, only a few domestic companies can produce ultra-fine glass fibers, and the weaving technology is relatively backward.

With the development of electronic-grade glass fibers, Chongqing International Composite Materials Co., Ltd. and Nanjing Glass Fiber Research and Design Institute can produce glass fibers with a diameter of fewer than six μm, which has made some progress in the development of domestic PTFE membranes. rather

Potianta Polyfluoroglass Fiber Co., Ltd. and Jiangsu Taixing Weiwei Polymer Co., Ltd. have successively invested in developing and producing PTFE membranes. However, there is a particular gap between domestic membrane materials and foreign countries regarding various properties, and there has yet to be a breakthrough in wide-width membrane materials.

With the increasing demand for membrane materials in my country, it is urgent to develop domestic PEE membrane materials to promote the development of membrane structure buildings in China and reduce the cost of domestic membrane structure buildings.