Teflon, Xylan, Halar or fluoroplastics?

We come across different names of surface treatments required by our customers and even though the names sound different the surface treatments can be very similar. Most often this is due to the end customer or parent company specification, which requires an exact type of coating from a particular manufacturer. Most common names are Teflon, Xylan, Halar or chemical abbreviations of fluoroplastics (PTFE, FEP, PFA and ETFE). The names are the brands of different coating manufacturers that we can apply to your parts. What is the difference between them?

TEFLON®

The Teflon brand belongs to Chemours. This company was formerly called DuPont, and it was in its laboratories that a chemical compound PTFE was discovered. It was subsequently named "Teflon". PTFE is part of a group of fluoroplasts (see fluoroplasts in more detail below). Due to the expansion of the PTFE fluoroplastic under the brand "Teflon" and its use in cookware, fluoroplastic coatings are referred to simply as Teflon today. It is possible to find a whole spectrum of fluoroplastic coatings under the Teflon brand. This does not mean that other companies do not deal with production of fluoroplastics - just the opposite.

XYLAN®

The name Xylan covers Whitford fluoroplastic coatings. The properties of fluoroplastics (PTFE, PFA and FEP) can also be used on parts in the form of coatings from this company. The difference between Xylan and Teflon lies in different formulations of specific coatings. Another difference is that Whitford supplies only coatings, while Chemours also supplies basic fluoroplastics materials or products made from those materials. A number can be found after the Xylan name and it indicates a particular type of coating and thus its specific properties.

HALAR®

In the chemical industry, you may find a coating application called Halar. You can find the fluoroplastic with the abbreviation ECTFE under the HALAR label. It is most often used as a protection against corrosion in chemical industry. The ECTFE coating under the Halar label is produced only by Solvay and we can coat your parts with that. Contrary to Xylan and Teflon, it is a completely different fluoroplastic that nobody else produce. However, alternatives to this coating can also be found depending on the desired properties and uses.

Fluoroplastics

As indicated above, the generic term for Teflon, Xylan or Halar is fluoroplastic coating. Under this term, there are different types of materials with different properties: PTFE, PFA, FEP, ETFE and ECTFE. Evan though the Chemours discovered the PTFE first, other companies produce coatings from these materials too. Every company has its own brand as described. These brands of coatings can be replaced based on the specific functional requirements. It depends on the particular inquiry to choose the proper coating. More information about properties and types of fluoroplastics can be found in the separate article on our blog.