Finally: A rice-cooker nonstick
coating that lasts 6 times longer!
Where good ideas come to the surface
W
hat you see on the front cover is a dramatic
new development in nonstick technology
for rice cookers that offers many advantages
over all competitors in this important consumer
category.
Conventional
coating
Tetran
coating
Why a new brand name for this coating?
It is our practice to create new brands (rather
than line extensions) only when the product they
represent is (a) a genuine breakthrough and (b)
offers advantages that are easily communicated
and demonstrated to its potential market.
New Tetran qualifies on both accounts.
The advantages of Tetran
1. Dramatically improved release life (more than six times that of the conventional nonsticks tested).
Conventional coating
after 200 cycles
A typical coating, after 200 rice-cooking cycles, has
begun to blister and flake off the inside of a rice cooker, the standard industry sign of coating failure.
New Tetran coating
after 1200 cycles
(and still going strong)
Conventional coating made with NMP vs clear Tetran.
Note the yellow tint from the NMP.
limiting color options.
4. Easy, user-friendly application via spray
roller, curtain, spin.
5. Excellent adhesion to clean substrates: needs no additional surface preparation. Adheres well to aluminum sheet or cast-
ings, steel castings, rolled goods. 6. The unique Tetran formula provides a brighter appearance along with better release.
7. The smoother, higher-gloss surface of Tetran also reduces staining. 8. Wide range of cure temperatures possi-
ble, from 340˚C/645˚F to 415˚C/780˚F.
9. Improved resistance to chemicals.
Conventional
coating
Tetran
coating
Tetran in a rice cooker after 1,200 cycles of rice cooking, with the coating still intact and still performing.
2. Tetran is water-white in appearance in solution as well as in cured film (which is slightly opaque), permitting greater lati-
tude with bright colors.
3. Made without the solvent NMP and without PFOA. The NMP gives a light-yellow cast to the resin system in the cured coating, Confocal images (1000 times magnification) of a
conventional coating vs Tetran reveals the
difference in surface cover and smoothness.
A promising next step for Tetran, now under development, is small electrics. Here a typical cast-aluminum
sandwich maker (coated in Whitford’s lab) reveals the
smooth, high-gloss, mar-free surface possible with
Tetran’s low cure schedule.
(Example: A conventional coating at 25
microns/1 mil in a corrosion cell with con-
centrated HCl shows blistering and flak-
ing. But clear Tetran at 17 microns/.7 mil in the same corrosion cell with concen-
Conventional coating
after 38 hours in HCl
One clear coat of Tetran after severe draw. Note the
aluminum substrate showing clearly through the
water-white coating, with no cracking, no crazing.
trated HCl after 38 hours shows no
damage whatsoever.)
10. Postforms readily: stretches, is flexible.
11. Use temperature of 230˚C/450˚F.
12. Thinner films save money: optimum per formance is achievable in 15-18 microns/ 0.6 -0.8 mil vs conventional coatings at higher DFT (25 microns/1 mil).
Conventional coatings blister and flake when exposed
to harsh chemicals such as hydrochloric acid (HCl).
New Tetran coating
after 38 hours in HCl
13. Easily recoatable (reduces scrap).
14. Problem-free pad printing.
15. Tetran comes in one-, two- and three-coat versions.
16. A better, more flexible cure schedule, with wide latitude (see the back page).
A lot to think about
Tetran shows no damage and continues to function
after 38 hours exposure to HCl.
There are many good reasons to consider
this remarkable new development in coatings for
your application. If you would like more information on Tetran, please contact your Whitford
representative or Whitford directly at [email protected]. And please visit us on our website:
whitfordww.com.
A few more illustrations of Tetran’s
many advantages over ordinary nonstick coatings...
Conventional technology
TheThe
flexible
flexible
Tetran cure
schedule
Tetran cure schedule
A conventional technology after air drying. The
elements in the coating have not come together.
Tetran technology
Tetran offers an unusually flexible, wide cure range.
This can be of special importance to protect castaluminum appliances, since outgassing begins to
occur around 360˚C/680˚F, and ordinary coatings
cure at temperatures well above that.
Tetran after air drying. All elements in the coating
mixed together and flowed out evenly.
Tetran physicals
1 coat
2 coats
3 coats
BaseTop Base
Wt. solids
26.0 32.3 36.6
Vol. solids 18.37 15.59 14.73
15.59 19.48 18.81
VOCs
Three-coat Tetran’s smooth finish welcomes printing and displays the numbers and letters legibly,
far more sharply defined than other coatings.
Top
21.8 20.02
Sp Grvty
24.3
Mid
1.11
1.11
1.09
1.16 1.23 1.28
<3.50 <3.50 <3.50 <3.50<3.50<3.50
Sqft/gal
243
2 09
199
Sqm/kg
6.61 5.68 5.41
209
249
249
5.68 6.47 6.76
The physical constants of new Tetran in its one-, two- and
three-coat formulations.
Where good ideas come to the surface
Web: whitfordww.com • Email: [email protected] • © Whitford 2016-01