TRANSFORMING TEFLON® A SYSTEMATIC INVESTIGATION OF HYDROPHOBIC MATERIAL COATINGS

Elizabeth Castner, Kevin Fritz, Trisha Guchait, Rohan Katipally, Alberto Rivera, Lukas Ronner, Kinnari Shah, Erica Thieleman, Rebecca Wentzel, Patricia Yeh, Samantha Zeller

Advisor: Michael Avaltroni
Assistant: Darius Rackus

ABSTRACT

In this project, the hydrophobic and adhesive properties of two different phosphonic acids were investigated as potential replacements for Teflon®. Various application methods were tested in order to determine the most effective way of bonding these coatings to standard cookware surfaces. Additionally, primers were tested to better bond the phosphonic acid coatings to the surfaces tested in order to improve hydrophobicity and durability. Octadecylphosphonic acid (OPA) has been shown to have comparable hydrophobic properties to Teflon® and was tested alongside perfluoroctylphosphonic acid (P-FOPA), a coating that seemed promising due to its structural similarity to both Teflon® and OPA.