Roy Plunkett Found Slippery Teflon

In 1938, 27-year-old American chemist Roy J. Plunkett accidentally discovered Teflon while researching new refrigerants at DuPont’s Jackson Laboratory in New Jersey. He opened a cylinder of tetrafluoroethylene gas and found that the gas had vanished, leaving behind a slippery white solid. DuPont later identified the material as polytetrafluoroethylene, or PTFE, which resisted heat, chemicals, water, and sticking. The discovery eventually led to Teflon’s use in products such as non-stick cookware.

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