no other class of materials is anywhere close to perfluorocarbons in many properties, such as low affinity for both water and hydrocarbons (and consequently fats), and ultraviolet resistance coupled with softness
additionally such levels of resistance to biodegradation are rarely found in combination with either of the previous two qualities
no other known organic compounds, out of the currently 182 million assigned cas numbers, are as thermally stable
we are not talking about the kind of research and development that a company can carry out over a commercially viable timescale; we're talking about fundamental breakthroughs in material engineering
perfluorocarbons were discovered almost a century ago, and nothing equaling or exceeding their properties in these ways has been discovered since
moreover, there are fundamental reasons to suspect that nothing ever will be; fluorine is the most electronegative element that exists or ever will exist, if we restrict ourselves to ordinary atomic matter, and there aren't any plausible room-temperature substitutes for carbon chains in this role either
so it wouldn't be surprising if the company tries to palm off inferior polyethylene substitutes as 'gore-tex' in preference to just declaring defeat, but it's not plausible that they're going to discover an equivalent or better non-perfluorocarbon alternative within the next decade or two
ok as a single layer this is the best we can do, but maybe we can combine different materials - different layers of fabris to make it work on a similar level?
additionally such levels of resistance to biodegradation are rarely found in combination with either of the previous two qualities
no other known organic compounds, out of the currently 182 million assigned cas numbers, are as thermally stable
we are not talking about the kind of research and development that a company can carry out over a commercially viable timescale; we're talking about fundamental breakthroughs in material engineering
perfluorocarbons were discovered almost a century ago, and nothing equaling or exceeding their properties in these ways has been discovered since
moreover, there are fundamental reasons to suspect that nothing ever will be; fluorine is the most electronegative element that exists or ever will exist, if we restrict ourselves to ordinary atomic matter, and there aren't any plausible room-temperature substitutes for carbon chains in this role either
so it wouldn't be surprising if the company tries to palm off inferior polyethylene substitutes as 'gore-tex' in preference to just declaring defeat, but it's not plausible that they're going to discover an equivalent or better non-perfluorocarbon alternative within the next decade or two
this is science, not magic
some things are just impossible