What makes teflon slippery

PTFE is used as an inner coating material in non-stick cookware. This unique polymer coating prevents food from sticking in the pans during the cooking process. At normal cooking temperatures, PTFE-coated cookware releases various gases and chemicals that present mild to severe toxicity. Most nonstick pans are coated with polytetrafluoroethylene, also known as Teflon. And there are a lot of rumors out there that Teflon might be toxic and that these pans may not be safe to use.

The good news is that ingesting small flakes of nonstick coating is not dangerous. Even though it's chemically different, PTFE has lubricative characteristics similar to silicone. Many other suppliers also manufacture PTFE grannular and free flow resins. TFE is the chemical name for tetrafluoroethylene, which is a colorless and taseless gas, extremely toxic and ultimately deadly. Some organic and halogenated solvents are absorbed causing minor dimensional changes but these effects are physical and also reversible.

Why is ptfe slippery? Asked by: Lavinia Herzog. What does PTFE stand for? PTFE has other interesting properties. First of all, it doesn't melt so that you can mold it.

Instead, you take a powder form of the polymer right from the reactor you made it in, layer that on what you want to coat, and apply heat and pressure. This process is called "sintering," and is how most PTFE coated fry pans are made. Now for the reason that sintering works. Turns out that fluorine atoms, even those on a polymer chain like in PTFE, don't really like to be near each other.

The chains repel each other similar to how they repel almost everything else. So even though PTFE feels like a solid, all the polymer chains inside are wiggling around, trying to get as far away from their neighbors as possible.

Silicone grease, on the other hand, works better in low temperature, low stress applications around plastics and rubber. Silicone spray is used to lubricate many surfaces such as metal, rubber, plastics and even wood. For this reason, if you are lubricating a tight area, it is essential to clean the area first with a degreaser such as WD40 then only use a small amount of silicone spray to help lubricate the area.

WD can be used on just about everything. It is safe for metal, rubber, wood and plastic. WD can be applied to painted metal surfaces without harming the paint. Polycarbonate and clear polystyrene plastic are among the few surfaces on which to avoid using a petroleum-based product like WD WD does not contain fish oil, contrary to a popular myth, nor does it contain silicone, kerosene, water, wax, graphite, chlorofluorocarbons CFCs.

Silicone spray is a great addition to the garage or workshop with many different applications. You can easily apply the spray to the surface you want to silence squeaky hinges, lubricate stuck metal parts, protect against rust, and prevent moisture damage. Because silicone oil is super slippery and minimally-reactive, it can lubricate most anything. Lovinger, director of the polymers program at the National Science Foundation, offers this explanation: Andrew J.

Get smart. Sign Up. Support science journalism. Knowledge awaits. See Subscription Options Already a subscriber? Create Account See Subscription Options.