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-----Teflon Coating/Impregnation of Anodized Aluminum
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Q. I have a customer requirement for FEP Impregnation to anodic coating. Is anyone familiar or know a supplier who provides this? Far as we can tell this is done to Hardcoat.
Ken Ligo- Sarasota, Florida
October 20, 2025
⇩ Similar, related, Q&As -- oldest first ⇩
Q. Can aluminum be Teflon coated for low-friction applications and if so, how do I specify the process? Also, what are some sources? If not Teflon, then are there other dry (non-migrating) lubricant treatments for aluminum? Thank you.
Gary L. Reynolds- Valencia, California
1998
A. Many kinds of Teflon can be applied to a few thousands thick. It is a baked product, so you have to make sure that the aluminum does not lose its properties at that temp. Not knowing your application, there is a 50/50 probability that it will not work well for you.
A high dollar option is electroless nickel containing Teflon particles. An excellent product that will stand up to most any desired use.
James Watts- Navarre, Florida
A. Gary:
Yes, aluminum can be Teflon coated. It must be anodized or hardcoat anodized first. There is also a dry lube process that can be performed after anodizing.
adv.
If you have any other questions, please feel free to e-mail me.
Regards,
Bob BramsonB&M Finishers / Prismatic Stainless Steel
Kenilworth, New Jersey
A. Aluminum can be dry lubricated in a number of ways.
1) Teflon coatings which are cured at 700 °F.
2) Resin bonded dry film lubricants which use PTFE and/or MoS2 with cures from room temperature up to 500 °F.
3) PTFE impregnated anodize or hardcoat. This can also be used as a base for a topcoat of 1 or 2.
Each method has advantages and disadvantages.
adv.
Contact me to discuss further.
Luke Engineering & Mfg. Co. Inc.
Wadsworth, Ohio
Q. @Chris Jurey We began using Dupont 420G-104 teflon coating on our wafer chucks in 2021. One of our customers has reported that the teflon coating wore off (chipped off) over time on their chuck. The chuck was not anodized prior to teflon coating. This particular chuck has a lot of small vacuum holes.
Our standard chucks only have one 10-32 hole in the center with some narrow, shallow concentric circles machined into the surface. We have not had any complaints about these chipping or wearing. We have sold several over the past couple of years, but these may over time start wearing also.
I am wondering if Teflon Impregnated hard anodize would be a better option for our wafer chucks. The primary reason for the teflon coating is to prevent the wafer tape from sticking to the chuck when a smaller wafer is used. Do you have further information you could provide? ⇦ Answer?
- Moorpark California
October 2, 2023
This is a meeting place for camaraderie & sharing, not a free consultancy. So some readers don't engage with anonymous posters.
Q. @Bob Bramson
Where can I get any knowledge about the machine which can coat Teflon or selenium oxide onto aluminium drum?
BULENT CELIKplastic film - Izmir, Turkey
1999
A. You can Teflon aluminum with DuPont PFA, PTFE, ETFE, TEFLON S, and FEP. All have different properties and different cure temps. It depends on what usage and environment the piece is going to be used for. You also can use Ausimont's Halar ECTFE. Another process could be to anodize, then use Nituff Teflon.
Josh SonjuKalispell, Montana, USA
2001
Abrasive Resistant, FDA approved Aluminum Coating Needed
Q. I am looking for an FDA approved coating, for aluminum parts that are used in the pharmeceutical process of making pills. The coating currently used is a teflon impregnated hard coat, which is failing due to the abrasive properties of the granulation involved. Is there a better coating to use or will I have to consider manufacturing the parts out of a different material?
Ken Schumacher- Palatine, Illinois
2003
A. Whether any aluminum coatings are actually 'FDA approved' has been a topic of discussion here many times. So far the answer seems to be that no coatings are actually 'approved'; rather, they are not prohibited if they are "Generally recognized as safe". But that discussion continues.
Anodized coatings are quite abrasion resistant. Is it possible to use a hard coat without teflon? If not, then it would seem that a PVD processes to apply TiN, or a similar process to apply diamond-like-carbon, flame spraying, or electroplating a composite that includes diamond particles are among the few coatings that are harder than hard anodizing.
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
A. Hardcoat anodize is hard but has poor lubricity or sliding wear. Hardness is measured by stabbing a part. Hardness does not have much to do to do with sliding or abrasive wear.You are looking for a coating that has good sliding wear or lubricity. High phosphorous electroless nickel is approved for that application.Electroless nickel frequently works when anodize fails as it has has much better lubricity than hardcoat anodize.The high phos EN is about 45RC as plated . It can be hardened to 65 RC at 400c. Electroless nickel can easily be stripped from aluminum without damaging or shrinking the part. This allows parts to be repeatedly stripped and replated as they wear out.
Todd Osmolski- Charlotte, North Carolina, USA
Q. I also work in a tableting industry where an abrasive product wears on machine parts. I have been asking about a possible solution using a hard coat . We currently use an anodized and nickel coating. I was wondering about porcelain coating. Friction does pose a problem for us with some products.
Dennis Guenther- St. Louis, Missouri, USA
2007
A. I must chime in here, and say that the lubricity of HardCoat anodizing can be increased with the impregnation of PTFE into the coating.
I have not performed the required suga, Taber testing to back up my statement here, but I do know that the hardness of HC anodizing outperforms EN and with the PTFE I am sure that the lubricity would be competitive.
Ryan Cook
Toccoa, Georgia
Q. Will deeply appreciate if you know/recommend a product or process to install colorless/transparent 5 to 10 mil Teflon coating inside 4" aluminum tube without changing the high luster of aluminum surface.
Abdullah KaziPresident & CEO - San Jose California USA
June 4, 2011
Ed. note: Readers can suggest generic types of products, and process sequences. Sorry, but we can't post suggestions of brands or sources ( huh? why?)
Q. Dear Sirs,
I was wondering can we coat our aluminum moulds by teflon.
in short, the working conditions of Aluminum mould is continuously on 60 °C, and we are using water based silicone to prevent the adhesion of products into the aluminum mould. And as I was searching the TEFLON Coating, There has an idea come to my mind. I want to ask EXPERTS is it possible to coat teflon on our aluminum molds ? ⇦ Answer?
I'm looking forward to see your comments and help
Thanks a lot
footwear - Nizip,TR,Turkey
September 16, 2012
Q. We are developing a ballhead used for tripod in photography. We would like to have a low friction surface on the ball. The coated ball must be fixed by pressing into a plastic negative surface.
Do you suggest a PTFE coating or something else? ⇦ Answer?
Many thanks,
- Balatonalmadi, Hungary
February 4, 2013
A. Hi Laszlo. Both surfaces are wear surfaces, so both must be made of materials appropriate for use as wear surfaces.
Saying that the other one is 'plastic' probably doesn't offer quite enough information, but the usual best approach is a hard surface against a different and softer surface. So, a bit of a guess, but I think chrome plating, electroless nickel plating, or teflon impregnated hard anodizing would be best for the ball. Good luck.
Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
Q. I want a low friction coating on the outside of an aluminum hub [on crankshaft] to resist friction & wear from an outside crankcase seal. Apparently little oil gets there and the seal wore a groove in the old hub. I now have a new hub & seal. I didn't see any of the posts directly applying to my application. ⇦ Answer?
Thanks,
- Ann Arbor, Michigan
February 24, 2013
Q. I am making fusion welding dies for the socket fusion welding of plastic tubes. The dies are aluminum and the dies get to 500 degrees f.
What is the proper Teflon and application process for this coating?
- Portsmouth, New Hampshire, USA
July 5, 2013
This is a meeting place for camaraderie & sharing, not a free consultancy. So some readers don't engage with anonymous posters.
A. PTFE, spray, but your application is pretty demanding so some testing and re-application may be needed.
Blake Kneedler
Feather Hollow Eng. - Stockton, California
Applying Teflon to non-anodized aluminum?
Q. Greetings and thank you for sharing your knowledge!
I'm looking to put a protective coating on a recently resurfaced aluminum platen to prevent recurrence of oxidization. The part is a component of a printing press that can expect temperatures up to 230 °C.
Prior posts in this thread noted that prior to Teflon coating, the aluminum must be anodized. I'm not totally sure, but I don't think this surface is anodized. Any suggestions?
I had been thinking of using something like WD-40 Dry-Lube PTFE
⇦ on
eBay
or
Amazon [affil link] ⇦ Answer?
- Arlington, Texas USA
July 16, 2019
Q. My question is related to Teflon Coatings on aluminum mold surfaces. I am testing a urethane part that is removed from a Teflon coated aluminum tool. Thus far the results are not good. It appears the glass like surface of the molded part prevents good adhesion. If we coat the molded part excessively with a primer we can get fairy good adhesion but this is a wasted step and expensive. So this brings me to my real question if I want to remove a teflon coating from an aluminum surface what would be the best approach? Chemical stripping sounds like it could corrode the aluminum and sandblasting could remove aluminum underneath. Just looking for some advice on if there is a reasonable way to do it == maybe rinse the tool off quickly after a chemical treatment to limit corrosion? Any advice is appreciated. ⇦ Answer?
Phil GriffeyManufacturing Engineer - Wauseon
November 17, 2021
PTFE/Teflon Environmental Concerns
Q. I am in the process of specifying a finish for an aluminum threaded part. For a number of reasons (hardness, wear resistance, non-conductive, corrosion protection) I have settled on a Type III hard coat anodize.
I am debating adding a PTFE seal/finish to the part for increased lubricity (which will hopefully help with wear) but am a little worried about the environmental impacts of PTFE. It has been difficult to separate reliable online info from blogs talking about PTFE coated cookware.
From the best I can tell, most of the world has agreed to stop using PFAS, which were previously used in the production of PTFE. However, I am seeing some info indicating that PFAS are released in the air when PTFE is heated (such as when a PTFE coated metal part is melted for recycling), and info saying that some European countries are interested in banning PTFE outright.
Can anyone provide some insight to this situation? I do not want to specify a finish that I hope to use for 10+ years if it is likely to be banned soon, and I also do not want to specify a finish that is likely to result in hazardous pollution, even it is legal.
- North East
August 22, 2022
A. Unfortunately, none of us can predict the future, especially in the social media driven world of today. What is slightly trending today may explode to 24/7 coverage tomorrow or may fade when some other shiny object surfaces. And ultimately, laws are passed by vote-seeking politicians, not by scientific bodies. So personally, my guess is that all 'forever chemicals' will be banned worldwide sooner rather than later.
You submitted your question under an obviously fictitious name, and probably with good reason. But please recognize that potential responders will be limited by this same desire for plausible deniability :-)
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
Ted,
Thank you for your reply; your assessment of the future of forever chemicals sounds likely.
Do you have any comment on how PTFE is associated with forever chemicals? More specifically:
-Is it easy to manufacture/apply PTFE coatings without forever chemicals?
-Am I correct in my understanding that regardless of how the PTFE was manufactured, applying high enough heat to the PTFE will result in forever chemicals being emitted in the fumes?
Thank you again.
- North East
August 25, 2022
A. Hi again.
Fumes are one thing, but unfortunately Teflon, PTFE, is itself a forever chemical. The largely unbreakable chemical bonds between the carbon and fluorine in Teflon and other fluorocarbons chemicals is presumably the origin of the term 'forever chemicals'. Hopefully the hard anodizing that you envision will fill your needs without the addition of Teflon.
Luck & Regards,
Ted Mooney, P.E. RET
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey
Need quick confidential answers? $25
Need project assistance? $100/hr.
A. Jack
The EPA published a document regarding 'forever' chemicals titled "PFAS Strategic Roadmap: EPA's Commitment to Action 2021-2024". It might be worth your while to take a peek at it.
Dry Film Lubricants might be a suitable alternative to PTFE.
- Green Mountain Falls, Colorado
September 6, 2022
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