teflon

[PDTV]

If Teflon is non-stick, how do you make it stick to the pan?

[incitatus]

The metal of the pan is pretreated so that it is full of tiny holes shaped like an upside down mushroom. The teflon is then poured on and polymerised, setting inside the holes. In other words, as it is held inside the holes by physical means it cant get loose.

[HGray]

There are two methods of coating pans with Teflon - mechanical and chemical. Mechanical Bonding: First, the surface of the pan is sandblasted. Then it's coated with a primer. Then Teflon particles are embedded in the primer - which forms a stable medium for them. The coatings are cured at a very high temperature. The Teflon works by shedding particles of PTFE which migrate to the surface, and which keep anything from sticking to it. Chemical bonding is a newer process which used three coats. The aluminium pan has to be very smooth, with no oxides or salts. The primer forms a chemical bond with it. The second coat consists mostly of PTFE, and the thrid coat is a clear PTFE which sticks to the second coat.