Coat
Created | Updated May 28, 2005
Invented or actually discovered in 1939 by Roy Plunkett, who tried to use a cylinder of tetrafluorethylene. After openng he investigated the waxy substance and found some interesting properties.
Teflon is the most famous substance never to have come out of the space race.
It is designed to coat any surface and prevent any substance from ever sticking there again.
Its non stickyness comes from:
The 'woven' structure of the long molecules
The fragile carbon polymer chain is surrounded by strong bonded flourine atoms. The molecules have no weak spot to bind with any other chemical. Teflon is inert to most chemicals.
There aree no unbound or weak connections between any of the atoms of the molecule.
Questions such as 'If Teflon is non-stick, how do they make it stick to frying pans' should be filed under 'Shut up'. There you will find out the method is obvious. You do not stick the teflon to the metal surface but a primer instead. The PolyTetraFlouroEthylene (PTFE) is made on the spot, the chemical process creating the final material is taking place on the surface to be coated.
Uses of Teflon? Chances are you are holding it in your hand right now, most pointing devices have small pads on the bottom to let them slide over the surface with the least friction.
