CHEMICAL NEWS

DuPont Announces Availability of Teflon® Nonstick Coatings in Six Different Colors

SpecialChem - Mar 22, 2013

CHICAGO - The superior nonstick performance and durability of DuPont™ Teflon® nonstick coatings is now commercially available in the United States in six delectable new colors.

The 2012 introductory colors, which included Hot Chili (a spicy red), Lavender Blue (a rich blue), Champagne Gold (a classic shimmer) and Ivory (an elegant neutral), are joined now by Spicy Olive (a stylish green) and Aubergine Purple (a vibrant eggplant). The palette will satisfy consumers' taste for style and individuality, as well as their appetite for something fresh in their kitchens. During the Housewares Show, the colors can be seen at DuPont booth S3910.

"The new colors will turn heads at retailer's shelves and in America's kitchens," said David W. DeVoe, North American consumer Marketing Manager, DuPont™ Teflon® consumer finishes. "In addition to looking great, consumers will continue to enjoy all of the benefits of cooking on a coating that offers superior durability and nonstick performance. And, just like Teflon® nonstick coatings for cookware and bake ware, the new Color Collection is made without using PFOA."

Each color was created to inspire cooks to purchase and use cookware and bake ware that reflect their personal taste and kitchen design and enhance the presentation of their traditional and seasonal dishes:

• Hot Chili - The color is bright, fun and cannot be overlooked at the point-of-sale. It engages experimentally minded individuals and will leave no one cold.
• Lavender Blue - Friendly and familiar, this distinctive hue enhances the presentation of cakes, bakes and desserts.
• Champagne Gold - This color is classy, combining luxury with understatement. The high-quality appearance leaves an impression of natural elegance.
• Ivory - Simple yet elegant, Ivory is one of the world's most versatile colors. Its minimalist feel impresses those with an eye for style, while its calm, soft tone creates an aura of pure relaxation.
• Spicy Olive - Spicy Olive has the flair of urban plazas and cobblestone streets filled with street cafes and live music, appetizers and snacks.
• Aubergine Purple - This color signals glory and splendor, pure joy of life. This warm and inspiring hue is an invitation to spoil you with color.

About DuPont™ Teflon® Brand

The origin of the DuPont™ Teflon® brand began with the discovery of polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) in 1938 by DuPont chemist Roy Plunkett after which in 1945, DuPont selected, coined the term and registered as a trademark the Teflon® brand. Teflon® nonstick coating systems were first commercialized for cookware more than 50 years ago in the United States and have, along with other additives, been used in paints, fabrics, carpets, home furnishings, clothing and so much more.

CHEMISTRY'S SURPRISES

Chemical engineering is an uneasy amalgam of industrial chemistry and mechanical engineering. In the U.S., it had its rudimentary beginnings with a course taught at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology by Lewis N. Norton in 1888. Since then, our profession has expanded away from its roots. Today, I think most chemical engineers are more comfortable with mechanical engineering than chemistry. So, let's consider some of the chemistry that you might want to re-remember. 

Here's one of my favorites: the Brønsted–Lowry theory of acids. Strictly speaking, it states that a compound is an acid if it can donate a proton (H+) and a base if it can accept a proton. Sounds like cash flow from senior economics, doesn't it? In simple terms, Brønsted–Lowry means that to every other compound or material, a compound is either an acid or a base. When I worked at Anheuser-Busch, I was fascinated by the large craters etched into our otherwise impervious concrete pads. Acid produced by bacteria-eating molasses that had spilled during tank filling created them. That was Brønsted at work! Concrete has a pH of about 12. A typical organic acid produced by bacteria is probably in the 5–6 range. To concrete, even pH-7 rain is an acid.
Now and then, Le Chatelier's principle — a stress imposed on a chemical system at equilibrium will shift the equilibrium to relieve the stress — has bitten a few forgetful engineers in the hindquarters. At Millennium Inorganic Chemicals, we inherited a 1,500°C gas-phase reactor designed by DuPont; flue gas, oxygen and titanium tetrachloride, caged in nitrogen, are heated in the middle of the plug-flow reactor. Jamming so much nitrogen on the reactant side of an equation, with only oxygen present, caused mischief: nitric acid ate our lined tank at the other end of the process. So, we switched from nitrogen to argon during startup.

Our gas-phase reactors proved another interesting chemical principle: gas-phase reactions always are the purest, except possibly for gas/solid reactions with selective catalysts. 

Biocatalytic processes can pose special complications. Jim Dye briefly touched upon this in his kinetics class: In 1778, Carl Wilhelm Scheele introduced Schweinfurter (Prussian) green. This copper arsenate dye became popular in wallpaper — even more so when it was discovered that the dye killed bedbugs! In places with a cool, damp climate (like much of Europe), mold can grow on the wallpaper. The mold consumes the starch used in the paste to put up the wallpaper. It also takes up arsenic from the dye, which through a complex series of biochemical reactions is turned into trimethylarsine oxide and then reduced to poisonous trimethylarsine, which is excreted as a gas. People living in rooms with the wallpaper grew sick and even died. Prussia banned the dye in 1838, England and France much later. It was not until 1945 that a chemist identified trimethylarsine as the culprit. For more information on this tale, see: www.cas.umt.edu/geosciences//faculty/moore/G431/lectur17.htm
Water solubility often gets chemical engineers in trouble. Members of upper Group 1 in the periodic table, e.g., Na–K, are nearly always soluble. Away from Group 1, carbonates, phosphates, sulfates, and hydroxides generally are insoluble. In the transition elements, with the exception of Pb and Ag, chlorides, nitrates and acetates are soluble. 

Then, there's the eruption that results when you drop a Mentos candy into a carbonated beverage. Some chemists argue it stems from bubbles forming on the surface of the Mentos, but I think they're all wet. I've seen the same effect with a root beer float and by adding saccharine to hot tea: it's surface tension. When two soluble components are added together, surface tension decreases (per the Gibbs isotherm equation). The opposite result occurs when two insoluble or semi-soluble components are mixed together. Because Mentos are soluble in the pop, the surface tension drops and a geyser erupts. TV's MythBusters concluded that the pitting of the Mentos candy creates abundant sites for nucleation (http://dsc.discovery.com/tv-shows/mythbusters/videos/diet-coke-and-mentos-minimyth.htm). They forgot that you still have to get the carbon dioxide to form. The extensive surface area is a factor, just like the saccharine in my tea. This may seem far afield from our business but it isn't. Improper use of a surface-tension-decreasing foam was to blame for a fatality at Millennium.

ALCOHOL VS QUATS AS SANITIZERS

What are quat-based hand sanitizers? How do they work?

Quat-based hand sanitizers are made with quaternary surfactants that destroy the cell integrity of bacteria and germs.  

— Dan Renner, Director of Marketing, Kutol Products Co., Sharonville, Ohio 

Quat-based sanitizers have additives to increase their antimicrobial effectiveness.

— Katharina Versluis, Marketing Manager, Gent-l-kleen Products Inc., York, Pa.

Quats are Quaternary Ammonium Compounds (QUATS) and the more common ones used are benzethoniumchloride (BEC) or benzalkoniumchloride (BZK). QUATS are typically found in hard surface type sanitizing applications ‚Äì inanimate, nonliving surfaces. This versus alcohol which is used in sanitizing applications on living tissue, i.e. skin. 

Studies have shown that QUATS are more irritating to the skin and they are not good for the environment. Further to this, the FDA has not approved the use of QUATS as a leave on application; they must be rinsed off. In recent years, the FDA has been enforcing its rulings requiring companies who manufacture QUAT based products to remove or change claims that market the product as a leave on hand sanitizer.  

QUATS work by breaking down the cell walls and ultimately killing the germ, thus contact time is important to ensure kill. Alcohol (at the FDA recommended level of at least 60 percent) kills germs on contact which usually means within the 15 seconds that it was tested to. Currently, the FDA guidelines state that hand sanitizers must contain at least 60 percent ethyl alcohol and BSCs should look for this on the label as a standard.  And, as of this date, the FDA has not approved non-alcohol based hand sanitizers for use as leave-on products; again, they must be rinsed off.

— Lori Huffman, Head of Marketing, North America, STOKO An Evonik Brand, Greensboro, N.C.

Do non-alcohol-based hand sanitizers, such as quat-based sanitizers, have benefits over alcohol-based products? Any facilities I should or should not use quat-based sanitizers?

Yes, quat-based hand sanitizers are not flammable, do not sting on cuts and chapped hands and have a pleasant scent versus alcohol based sanitizers.  Schools and prisons are ideal for quat-based sanitizers, where the dangers of alcohol based products may be a concern.— Dan Renner, Director of Marketing, Kutol Products Co., Sharonville, Ohio 

Quat-based products have a greater risk of causing contact allergies and can leave a sticky residue on skin. Additionally, these sanitizers can become more easily contaminated. Depending on the percentage of Ethyl Alcohol in the product, alcohol-based sanitizers have have been proven to kill 99.99 percent or more of (bacteria) micro-organisms.

— Katharina Versluis, Marketing Manager, Gent-l-kleen Products Inc., York, Pa.

Because the FDA has not approved QUATS as a leave on product, together with issues of less desirable skin compatibility and environmental friendliness, we do not recommend sanitizers that contain these ingredients.  

— Lori Huffman, Head of Marketing, North America, STOKO An Evonik Brand, Greensboro, N.C.