"If nothing sticks to Teflon, how does Teflon stick to the pan?"
How does Teflon stick to the pan?
We've all heard the question, but have we all heard the answer?
So, how does Teflon stick to the pan?
There are two techniques to make Teflon itself stick to surfaces of items such as cookware (pans in this case). The first is "sintering.” Sintering is a process much like melting. The Teflon is heated at a very high temperature and pressed firmly onto a surface. Unfortunately, the odds are it will eventually peel from the surface. Chemically modifying the side of the Teflon that you want to have stick holds better results. By filling it with ions in a high vacuum under an electric field, or plasma, many of the fluorine atoms on the surface that we want to make sticky will break away. Other groups that adhere strongly to surfaces, such as oxygen, can then be substituted.
Polytetrafluoroethylene can also be chemically modified using a reducing agent to break away the fluorine atoms from the surface in order to make it stick. The reducing agent breaks the bond between fluorine and carbon, and recombines with the fluorine, leaving a carbon radical. These carbons tend to then pair off with one another, forming unsaturated hydrocarbons. As they don’t have a full complement of electrons, these hydrocarbons can stick, therefore bond easily to things like pans.
So, how does Teflon stick to the pan?
There are two techniques to make Teflon itself stick to surfaces of items such as cookware (pans in this case). The first is "sintering.” Sintering is a process much like melting. The Teflon is heated at a very high temperature and pressed firmly onto a surface. Unfortunately, the odds are it will eventually peel from the surface. Chemically modifying the side of the Teflon that you want to have stick holds better results. By filling it with ions in a high vacuum under an electric field, or plasma, many of the fluorine atoms on the surface that we want to make sticky will break away. Other groups that adhere strongly to surfaces, such as oxygen, can then be substituted.
Polytetrafluoroethylene can also be chemically modified using a reducing agent to break away the fluorine atoms from the surface in order to make it stick. The reducing agent breaks the bond between fluorine and carbon, and recombines with the fluorine, leaving a carbon radical. These carbons tend to then pair off with one another, forming unsaturated hydrocarbons. As they don’t have a full complement of electrons, these hydrocarbons can stick, therefore bond easily to things like pans.