fluorocarbon

[floo r-oh-kahr-buh n, flawr-, flohr-]

noun Chemistry.

any of a class of compounds produced by substituting fluorine for hydrogen in a hydrocarbon, and characterized by great chemical stability: used chiefly as a lubricant, refrigerant, fire extinguishing agent, and in industrial and other applications in which chemical, electrical, flame, and heat resistance is essential; banned as an aerosol propellant in the U.S. because of concern about ozone layer depletion.

Compare chlorofluorocarbon, chlorofluoromethane.

Origin of fluorocarbon

First recorded in 1935–40; fluoro- + carbon

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

British Dictionary definitions for fluorocarbon

fluorocarbon

noun

any compound derived by replacing all or some of the hydrogen atoms in hydrocarbons by fluorine atoms. Many of them are used as lubricants, solvents, and coatingsSee also Freon, polytetrafluoroethylene, CFC

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

fluorocarbon in Science

fluorocarbon

[flur′ō-kär′bən]

An inert, liquid or gaseous organic compound similar to a hydrocarbon but having fluorine atoms in the place of hydrogen atoms. Fluorocarbons are used in aerosol propellants and refrigerants.