Tetrafluoroethylene Lab Report

Introduction
Polymers are large macromolecules composed of many small repeating subunits (monomers) connected via covalent bonds. Both natural and synthetic polymers are created via polymerization of these small molecules (Chemistry 144 Writing Assignment information sheet). The chosen polymer, polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in the form of Teflon®, is a synthetic fluoropolymer of tetrafluoroethylene (Wikipedia, 2015), and is one of the most well-known brand names for PTFE based formulas, owned by DuPont Co.
Background
PTFE was discovered by chance in 1938 by Dr. Roy Plunkett. While employed by DuPont, Plunkett worked with chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) in an attempt to create a new refrigerant. Using an iron pressure bottle that acted as a catalyst, tetrafluoroethylene was compressed and accidentally polymerized into a white, waxy solid (Chemours, S.a).
Synthesis
In suspension polymerization, distilled liquid tetrafluoroethylene is added to a reaction chamber with purified water and an initiator which causes the TFE to polymerize. The chamber is shaken and cooled; resulting in solid flakes of PTFE which is dried and ground to a powdery consistency after draining (Made how, 2015). The powder is molded into pellets, which are shipped and processed further by