“The summer of 1959 was gloriously hot with prolonged spells of dry, warm weather with no measurable
rainfall whatsoever between August 10 and October 14.” The young British man who wrote this could not have known that across the Atlantic Ocean, in an obscure laboratory near Wilmington, Delaware, a polymer was being discovered that would change the world – and was destined to become known as DuPont™ Krytox®.
Today, of course, it’s our well-known trademark for high performance synthetic lubricants used for a variety of applications. Krytox® oils are made from only fluorine, carbon, and oxygen – a mixture of compounds collectively known by many names – including perfluoropolyether (PFPE), perfluoroalkylether (PFAE), and perfluoropolyalkylether (PFPAE).
The time was a renaissance of research in fluorinated materials at DuPont. The new polymer showed remarkable thermal and oxidative stability. Larger scale samples for testing of the PFPE “K-fluid” became available in 1960, and potential uses envisioned then included lubricant for the MACH 3+ turbine engine, hydraulic oil, rocket gear box lubricant, and even gyroscope oil.
In 1963, Krytox® oil was used in a GE engine test for the supersonic transport aircraft. In 1964, new Krytox® PFPE-based grease formulations were developed jointly with the US Navy and the Air Force, resulting in military specification MIL-G-27617, which was developed specifically to cover Krytox®. The first commercial sales of Krytox® were for non-flammable lubricants for the Apollo space program in 1965.
Prior to 1981, the only commercially available Krytox® lubricants were aerospace oil and greases. Since then, PFPE-based oils and greases have been adopted across a very wide range of industries and applications. Today, there are PFPE oils and greases for industrial operations, vacuum pump fluids, incidental food contact, automotive uses, reactive gas, and of course, military applications – to name just a few.
