while his father bill gore was working for dupont, he was also experimenting at home with dupont materials such as teflon polytetrafluoroethylene (teflon ptfe). he wanted to insulate electrical wires using ptfe, but attempts to coat wire with powdered ptfe did not produce a consistent coating. in april 1957, while bob was still a sophomore at delaware, bill showed him around his home lab and explained the problem he was having.