World War II. PTFE had surfaced just in time to play decisive
roles, including development of the weapon that would end the
war; Plunkett’s invention contributed to the Manhattan Project,
created in 1942 to produce the first atomic bomb.3 PTFE
provided material for gaskets, packings and linings to handle
the corrosive uranium hexafluorides, and made development of
this critical weapon possible.4