What in the heck is PTFE or polytetrafluoroethylene and why does it stick to aluminum?

Not long ago, a very good friend of mine asked the question “Nothing sticks to Teflon, so how does Teflon stick to the pan?” I thought I would take a stab at answering it, the best I can. Polytetrafluoroethylene or the substance more commonly called Teflon, is actually a DuPont brand name, kind of like Kleenex for tissues and Q-tips for the little cotton swabs. It was actually invented by accident in 1938 by DuPont engineer Dr. Roy Plunkett while he worked at the Jackson laboratory in New Jersey. He was actually working with gases related to Freon® refrigerants when upon checking a frozen, compressed sample of Tetrafluoroethylene, he and his associates discovered that the sample had polymerized spontaneously into a white, waxy solid to form Polytetrafluoroethylene or PTFE. It was not until 1945 that it first marketed under the DuPont Teflon trademark. PTFE has one of the largest molecular weights, exceeding 30,000,000, and when coating other substrates it is so slippery that virtually nothing sticks to it or can be absorbed by it. When you think about it there is little wonder that Teflon was chosen to be used for nonstick cookware. Before we get to why it does stick to the pans I just wanted to mention that manufacturers who do not use the DuPont brand of Teflon have to call their pots and pans "non-stick coated aluminum cookware" instead of Teflon coated.

In the early days, what the non-stick stuck to and did not stick to was a mechanical issue. Early on manufacturers had two methods to get the Teflon to stick, they textured the substrate (aluminum pan) by sand blasting its surface, this created a coarse surface, they also tried spraying the cookware with a micro-lumpy ceramic coating or stainless steel, which formed mini-mountains as it hardened. The textured surfaces provided the long, slippery non-stick molecules much more to bite into. As the non-stick wore off the peaks and micro-lumps there was still enough clinging in the crevices to keep the pancakes from getting stuck, sort of. The biggest trouble was these methods didn't hold up very well under normal household use. For those who remember the early Teflon pans you know, they sucked and you had better never touch them with anything metal. This was also before the advent of effective plastic cooking tools. It was still just a great idea and not so much a useful product, yet.

So back on the drawing board it was determined the discussion needed to about the basic non-stick molecule being a polymer, or chain, of fluorine atoms and additives such as carbon and hydrogen. The longer this chain, the tougher it is; but if the molecule becomes too long and it becomes viscous and very hard to handle (not sure what that means really????). The second generation coating systems moved beyond mere mechanics for adhering the Teflon coating. The frying-pan engineers added a sticky molecule to the non-stick molecule. Teflon was now applied in coats, with the bottom coat containing the sticky additive that held tight to the metal pan and to the non-stick molecules. A coat of non-sticky non-stick went over that, non-stick and non-stick cling together like a loving hug with your honey. A final non-stick layer, spiked with teensy bits of ceramic or other manmade tougheners, protected the softer layers applied earlier. That is how most of non-stick cookware is made, Grit-blast the pan; spray on a sticky primer coat, a midcoat, and a tougher top coat; and bake. Kind of like the paint on a car, primer, paint and clear coat. Teflon is also similar to automotive finishes in that it is produced in different colors as well, ridiculous in my opinion.

The latest non-stick innovation, lost on most using non stick cookware, is a non-mechanical means of sticking non-stick to aluminum. In a method, DuPont calls "smooth technology," new-and-improved sticky molecules in the primer coat sink into the surface as the pan bakes and chemically lock themselves to smooth, un-blasted metal. The upper layers also fuse together better resulting in a much tougher piece of cookware. There are questions about health consequences concerning ingesting all those non-stick molecules? DuPont's Kris Mohan says not to worry, we are, after all, talking non-stick, it is completely inert, and it passes right through the body without interfering with anything." Who knows really, it is probably contributing to the myriad health problems we all face, a story for another day though.

The real bottom line is this, who cares, as long as the pancakes do not stick to the pan and come out fluffy and golden brown?

How many “non-stick” pieces of cookware do you have?