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Nothing stuck to Mafia boss John Gotti
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who evaded justice for years by bribing
and threatening jurors and witnesses.
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That earned him the name
the Teflon Don
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after one of the slipperiest
materials on Earth.
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Teflon was in the spacesuits the Apollo
crew wore for the moon landing,
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in pipes and valves used
in the Manhattan Project,
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and maybe in your kitchen as the nonstick
coating on frying pans and cookie sheets.
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So what is this slippery solid
and why doesn't anything stick to it?
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Teflon is a brand name for
polytetrafluoroethylene,
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or PTFE.
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It was stumbled upon accidentally in 1938
by a 27-year-old American chemist
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named Roy Plunkett
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while he was trying to develop
a non-toxic refrigerant fluid for DuPont,
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a chemicals company.
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The strange, white substance that formed
inside his lab canister
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was chemically inert,
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meaning it wouldn't react
with other substances.
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It also had an extremely
low coefficient of friction,
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making other materials slide right off it.
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Teflon's properties make it perfect
when you need something slippery,
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chemical resistant,
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or waterproof,
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which means it has a lot of applications.
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It can be found all over the place,
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as a coating on raincoats,
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industrial ball bearings,
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artificial joints,
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circuit boards,
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and even the Rocky Mountains-themed roof
of the Denver International Airport.
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The incredible properties of PTFE
come from its molecular structure.
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It's a polymer,
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meaning it's made of long chains of
repeating units of atoms strung together.
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A PTFE chain has a backbone
of carbon atoms,
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each of which is attached
to two fluorines.
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The fluorine atoms surround the carbon
like armor,
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spiraling around the chain,
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and the bond between carbon and fluorine
is incredibly tight.
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Like a couple that ignores everyone
except each other,
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carbon and fluorine interact so strongly
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that the normal, intermolecular forces
that help substances stick to each other
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don't stand a chance.
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Even the famously adhesive feet of geckos
usually can't get a grip.
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But wait.
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If PTFE doesn't stick to anything,
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how can it be so firmly attached
to something like a pan?
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One method involves sandblasting the pan
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or etching it with chemicals
to make it rough.
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Then, a special primer is applied,
which acts like glue.
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Its exact composition is a trade secret
guarded by each manufacturer.
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The pan is sprayed with liquid PTFE
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and heated to around
800 degrees Fahrenheit.
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The layers then solidify into
a smooth, slick coating.
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When you later cook eggs
in this PTFE-coated pan,
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the extra tight carbon-fluorine bonds
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just ignore the water and fat and protein
molecules in the eggs.
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Without those interactions,
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the food just slides around
without sticking.
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You might wonder if it's safe to cook
in a PTFE-coated pan.
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The answer is yes, if you're careful.
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PTFE is stable at moderate temperatures,
like you'd use to cook eggs or fish,
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but above 500 degrees Fahrenheit,
it starts to degrade,
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and heating it further releases fumes
that can make you feel sick.
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An empty pan can reach 500 degrees fast
over high heat,
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but most kitchens are ventilated
well enough to dissipate the fumes.
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People used to also think
that accidentally consuming PTFE
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that flaked off a scratched pan
was bad for you,
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but the current consensus
is that it's harmless.
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Because PTFE doesn't interact with other
chemicals very well,
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it isn't thought to break down
inside your body.
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Whether it's safe to manufacture Teflon
is another story.
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DuPont and its spin-off company Chemours
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now face lawsuits
worth millions of dollars.
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They've been accused of polluting
the environment for decades
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and exposing employees
and local communities
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to health risks associated
with a toxic chemical called PFOA.
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That chemical was involved
in manufacturing Teflon.
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A for John Gotti,
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in 1992, the Mob boss was finally
convicted of five counts of murder,
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among other charges.
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That prompted the head of the FBI office
in New York city to announce
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the Teflon is gone.
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The Don is covered in velcro
and all the charges stuck.