Thermoplastic - Terminology

Terminology

The literature on thermoplastics is huge, and can be quite confusing, as the same chemical can be available in many different forms (for example, at different molecular weights), which might have quite different physical properties. The same chemical can be referred to by many different tradenames, by different abbreviations; two chemical compounds can share the same name; a good example of the latter is the word "Teflon" which is used to refer to a specific polymer (PTFE); to related polymers such as PFA, and generically to fluoropolymers.