Your production equipment or device is sticking, you say? Why isn’t your release coating working?

All non stick coatings are not created equal. That’s just a fact. Consider, too, that high release coatings may not perform equally well when subjected to different environments.

Often, it’s not the fault of the coating. It is failure to truly understand the environment. Do you know the temperature of service? What about the sticky product. Do you understand its composition? Abrasion?

Failure to address some of these basic questions can easily result in lackluster performance. Sometimes, catastrophic failure.

So, what are the characteristics of a good non stick coating? Why do so many fail to provide sustainable performance? Why do few succeed? Is the answer always Teflon? You may be surprised.

To pick a release coating right for you, we first define sticking as molecules of a substance having a stronger attraction to a surface than to each other. (Conversely, if molecules within a substance have greater affinity for each other than the surface, release will occur.)

Non stick is not the same as lubrication. Though it does relate to how poorly a surface ‘wets’.

Wetting is defined as the ability of a liquid to spread across a surface. If a surface is easily wetted, the surface is described as hydrophilic (water-attracting). But if the surface is not easily wetted, like water beads on a freshly waxed car, the surface is described as hydrophobic (water-repelling).

The better the hydrophobic coating, the higher the release (non stick).

So, to pick a release coating right for you, look for one with low surface energy, excellent non wetting characteristics. But, again, look, too, for thermal stability and permeation strength. And be sure to consider the mechanical, chemical, or abrasive aspects of the environment. That will be the only way to ensure longer-term performance.

Want to make a better product? Or simply, make your product faster, more reliably, with less scrap? We share your goal to improve non stick performance!

Here, in the following articles, you’ll find the newest, state-of-the art advancements in non stick coatings, including: PTFE, PFA, FEP, and yes, Plating, Anodizing, and Thermal Spray.

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