University of Manchester - Non-stick, so tough

A Nobel prizewinning physicist has created a thinner, tougher version of polytetrafluoroethylene, better known by the brand name Teflon. Andre Geim shared the 2010 prize with his University of Manchester colleague Kostya Novoselov for the discovery of graphene, an atom-thick form of carbon. Working with teams from China, the Netherlands, Poland and Russia, he has now created fluorographene: a one-molecule-thick material that has similar properties to Teflon, such as chemical inertness and thermal stability, but is much stronger. Professor Geim said: "The mix of the properties of graphene and Teflon is so inviting that you don't need to stretch your imagination to think of applications."