PTFE belongs to the fluoropolymer family and has proven itself on account of its many advantages in the manufacture and protection of architectural membranes. Glass fibre membranes with coatings of 3M Dyneon PTFE have been used for decades in many different architectural structures - from the sun sail to the stadium roof.
High resistance and best protection
As a coating for glass fibre fabrics, PTFE achieves an elongation at break of up to 600 per cent of that of the membranes and protects them against UV radiation, moisture and other environmental influences. At the same time it is particularly resistant: even after many years of use, the coated surface does not become brittle and is able to withstand the most diverse influences and chemicals. What is especially useful is that the smooth surface cleans itself to a large extent with each rain shower. Thanks to their long durability, textile membranes coated with PTFE are extremely cost-efficient. In addition, the high tensile strength of the coated fabric of up to 10,000 N/5 cm offers architects very large spans.
Use at the FIFA World Cup in Brazil
At the FIFA World Cup™ 2014 in Brazil the specialist for textile architecture, Ceno Tec from Greven, made up 52,000 square metres of glass fibre fabric coated with Dyneon PTFE into 252 made-to-measure elements for the Arena Amazonas in Manaus. The translucent membranes protect the people in the arena against sunlight, enable good ventilation and scatter the light in a pleasant manner. At the same time the glass fibre membranes, which were coated by Verseidag Indutex GmbH of Krefeld, ensure the permanent protection of the roof even in the tropical climate of Manaus. The fact that fluoropolymers require neither softeners nor stabilisers pays off here, because these evaporate over the course of time and can lead to the embrittlement of the coating. Thanks to the protection of the Dyneon PTFE coating, however, bacteria and mould cannot find any cracks in which to nest, even in tropical environments and after decades of use.