PTFE, or Teflon®, was accidentally invented in the 1930s and was initially used for various purposes, including preventing radioactive material from escaping during the Manhattan Project. Its insulating and low-friction properties make it ideal for electronic components, gears, and ball bearings. Marion Trozzolo introduced Teflon®-coated cookware to American households in the 1960s.
Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) is a synthetic material accidentally invented in the late 1930s while a chemist was trying to develop a new type of perfluoroethylene-based coolant. Instead of getting a chlorofluorocarbon, the scientist was surprised to find that the perfluoroethylene 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 commercially deployed and was eventually patented under the name Teflon®. However, it would be another 20 years before this material made it to the pan and became known as the first nonstick coating for cookware. In fact, this material was initially used for a variety of other purposes.
During World War II, PTFE was used to prevent the escape of radioactive materials from the plant designated to produce the first atomic bomb in the United States, a goal referred to as the Manhattan Project. This facility represented an impressive piece of real estate with more than 2,000,000 square feet (609,600 square meters) to house the uranium hexafluoride. Not only is this substance highly toxic and corrosive in itself, but it also forms a dangerous gas known as hydrogen fluoride in the presence of water or water vapor. For this reason, PTFE has been used as a lining for pipe fittings to make them leak proof.
The exceptional insulating properties of this material have made it ideal for use in electronic components. 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 friction properties, expressed as a coefficient of friction. This measurement is relative and differs according to the materials brought into contact to generate or simulate friction. In terms of plastics, friction against polished steel is usually observed. To put PTFE’s low coefficient of friction into perspective, it’s the only known synthetic surface material that a gecko’s toes won’t stick to. This quality makes it suitable for manufacturing parts that need to resist friction, such as gears and ball bearings.
This material was finally introduced to American households by Marion Trozzolo, founder of Laboratory Plasticware Fabricators. While Trozzolo had been making Teflon®-coated scientific instruments for several years, she was inspired by a French engineer who found it 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 US manufacturer of Teflon®-coated cookware. In fact, “The Happy Pan,” launched in 1961, has earned a place of historic significance in the Smithsonian Institute and Trozzolo a name of distinction in the Plastics Hall of Fame.
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