Poly(vinylidene fluoride), or PVDF, has a few things going for it. It has very high electrical resistance, and it has good flame resistance. Put these two bits of information together and it might dawn on you that this would make a good material for insulating electrical wires, especially ones that get hot during use. So you'll find it insulating the wires in the computer you're using right now. Electrical cables on airplanes are also insulated with PVDF, where it's important that practically everything on board be fireproof. It's also chemically resistant, so you'll find it used in the chemical industry to make pipes and bottles and such that hold chemicals. What about ultraviolet radiation? PVDF resists that, too. PVDF is often blended with poly(methyl methacrylate) (PMMA) to make it more resistant to UV light. PMMA degrades when exposed to UV radiation, so if we want to make PMMA windows for use outside we have to blend it with PVDF.
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