|
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic
material accidentally invented in the late 1930s while a chemist was endeavoring
to develop a new type of perfluorethylene-based refrigerant. Rather than
achieving a chlorofluorocarbon, the scientist was surprised to find that the
perfluorethylene used in the process reacted with the iron content of its
container and polymerized under pressure. Less than a decade later, this new
material was being distributed on a commercial scale and was eventually patented
under the name Teflonâ„¢. However, it would be another 20 years before
PTFE would
hit the frying and become known as the first non-stick coating for cookware. In
fact, this material was used for a variety of other purposes at first.
During World War II, PTFE was used to prevent the escape of radioactive
materials from the facility designated to produce the first atomic bomb in the
U.S., an objective dubbed as the Manhattan Project. This facility represented an
impressive piece of real estate with more 2,000,000 square feet (609,600 m²) in
which to house uranium hexafluoride. Not only is this substance highly toxic and
corrosive in its own right, but also forms a dangerous gas known as hydrogen
fluoride in the presence of water or water vapor. For this reason,
PTFE was used
as a coating for pipefittings to make them leak proof.
The exceptional insulating properties of
PTFE made its use in
electronic components ideal. For one thing, it is non-conductive, making it
resistant to high electric fields. It is also highly resistant to water, heat,
and chemical corrosion. In fact, it continues to be used to produce laboratory
equipment and accessories that come into contact with hydrofluoric acid, which
would otherwise dissolve other materials, even glass.
PTFE also possesses very low frictional properties, which is expressed
as frictional coefficient. This measurement is relative and differs according to
the materials brought into contact to generate or simulate friction. In terms of
plastics, friction is usually observed against polished steel. To put the low
friction coefficient of PTFE into proper perspective, it is the only known
synthetic surface material to which the toe pads of a gecko fail to stick. This
quality makes PTFE suitable for manufacturing parts that need to resist friction,
such as gears and ball bearings.
PTFE was eventually introduced to American households by Marion Trozzolo, founder of Laboratory Plasticware Fabricators. While Trozzolo had been
producing Teflon -coated scientific tools for a number of years, he became
inspired by a French engineer who found PTFE such an effective non-stick coating
for his fishing gear that he later treated his wife’s pots and pans with it.
While this experiment led to the production of cookware known as Tefal (T-Fal) in
France in the mid-1950s, Trozzolo became the first U.S. producer of Teflon-coated
cookware. In fact, “The Happy Pan,†launched in 1961, earned a place of
historical significance in the Smithsonian Institute and Trozzolo a name of
distinction in the Plastics Hall of Fame.
|
