- Non-stick surface
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A non-stick surface is a surface engineered to reduce the ability of other materials to stick to it. A non-stick coating may be applied to a substrate to produce such a surface. One common application of non-stick coatings is cookware. Until recently, Teflon has dominated this market. However, there are environment and health concerns related to the use of Teflon. Teflon contains Perfluorooctanoic acid, which is designated as a Persistent Organic Pollutant under the Stockholm Convention and is targeted to be phased out. More recently, many alternatives to the familiar Teflon non-stick cookware have become available, including Thermolon, ScanPan technology, Ecolon, and hard anodized aluminum.
Contents
Teflon
Teflon is a trademark of DuPont used to refer to their non-stick products.
- Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), a synthetic fluoropolymer which finds numerous applications. PTFE's most well known trademark in the industry is the DuPont brand name Teflon. Perfluorooctanoic acid is an artificial acid; one of its most common uses is for processing polytetrafluoroethylene. See also polymer fume fever.
- DuPont markets several kinds of Teflon coatings for cookware. Arranged in order of decreasing price and durability they are: DuPont™ Autograph®, DuPont™ Teflon® Platinum Pro, DuPont™ Teflon® Platinum, DuPont™ Teflon® Select, DuPont™ Teflon® Xtra, DuPont™ Teflon® Classic and DuPont™ Teflon® with Radiance Technology.[1]
- Perfluoroalkoxy, another fluoropolymer with properties similar to PTFE, also sold under the Teflon brand name
- Fluorinated ethylene propylene, "Teflon FEP"
Thermolon
Thermolon is a trademark of the Thermolon Corporation. Thermolon is a patented mineral polymer based on silicon oxides. The Thermolon corporation claims that its coating provides environmental benefits related not only to the absence of any toxic chemicals, but also to the lower curing temperature of the coating, which reduces energy use. Thermolon Corporation claims that this lowers Greenhouse Gas emissions vs. Teflon coatings.[2] These claims have not been verified.
ScanPan
ScanPan markets non-stick cookware made with patented Ceramic Titanium technology. While the non-stick coating still utilizes PTFE, it is applied without using PFOA as an emulsifier. The product is therefore marketed as "100% PFOA free", but this does not mean the coatings are free of fluorinated organic chemicals.
See also
- Tefal
- Teflon tape
- Teflon (nickname)
- Silpat
- Electroless nickel plating
- Lunac (alloy and trans-ceramic coatings)
- Silverstone (plastic)
- Excalibur (coating)
References
- ^ http://www2.dupont.com/Teflon/en_US/products/cookware_coatings/index.html
- ^ Thermolon Corporation. "THERMOLON™ MINERAL COATINGS". Thermolon Corporation. http://e.thermolon.net/html_e/image/mn01/ComparisonofThermolonvsPTFE_06October2010.pdf. Retrieved 7 May 2011.
External links
- "Science plans 'non-stick' submarine", bbc.co.uk, 10 October, 2003
- "'Virtually non-stick' gum created", Rebecca Morelle and Liz Seward, BBC News, 13 September 2007
Categories:- Materials science
- Materials stubs
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