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The powder coating process was developed in the late 1940s and grew in popularity in the ensuing decades. A powder-coated surface is a hard, plastic-like coating on a metallic surface. The coating itself is made of a polymer that is mixed with pigments. Theses polymers and pigments are heat treated and then crushed to make the necessary powders that are then sprayed onto the part.
Powder Coating Process
Once the powder is prepared, the part undergoes a 3-step process to be powder coated:
1. Metal Preparation
Stainless steel is fed into a pickling solution which serves 2 main purposes. Firstly, the pickling solution removes excess oil, rust and other oxide layers formed on the surface of the steel items. Repeated addition of pickling accelerator increases the lifespan of the stainless steel. Secondly, pickling increasing surface roughness of the stainless steel to increase its adsorption capacity. This will allow the powder to bind more strongly to the metallic surface.
2. Coating
Electrostatic attraction is used by applying a positive charge to the powder in the spray gun and applying a negative charge on the material to be coated. This electrostatic adsorption process produces an…
