powder coating

Powder coating is a coating process in which a generally electrically conductive material is coated with powder paint. The powder is sprayed electrostatically or tribostatically onto the substrate to be coated and then baked. Prior to powder coating, the workpiece must be well degreased and, if necessary, treated with anti-corrosion protection. Today, the baking temperatures can vary greatly, depending on the application.

Because of the baking, a permanent adhesion (purely mechanical interlocking) and an even, dense coating is achieved, which takes place partly through coagulation (virtually sintering) and partly through melting of the particles. The powder coating can also be applied by fluidized bed coating. A heated workpiece is briefly immersed in a plastic powder that is fluidized with compressed air. The powder melts on the surface to form a plastic layer, as the heat from the workpiece melts the powder.

Rhenotherm Kunststoffcoatings GmbH carries out contract coatings with various powders.

Incidentally, the basics of powder coating were already developed in the late 1940s and early 1950s. First, organic, powdered polymers were flame-sprayed onto metal surfaces. The German scientist Dr. In 1953, Erwin Gemmer developed the first standard powder coating process, the whirl sintering process already mentioned. The layer thicknesses, which were still very high at the time, were then significantly reduced by the advent of electrostatic spray guns in the mid-60s.

Due to constant innovation in the field of powder coating, it is now possible to subject temperature-sensitive materials such as plastics to powder coating in addition to classic metal coatings.