The goal of both Teflon™ industrial coating and powder coating is basically similar, although the processes used to apply each of them are slightly different. Both coatings are meant to impart some specific property to the item that is being coated. For powder coating, the goal is a protective layer that will keep the item from being damaged, although with Teflon™, usually a non-stick surface is the property that is intended to be given to the item it is being applied to.
The Powder Coating Process
The powder coating that gets applied is just that-a powder. It basically gets sprayed onto the surface and then dries to form a coating. Here’s how the powder coating process works:
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- The powder is placed in the feeder unit for the spray gun. Compressed air inside the unit then diffuses it so that it becomes like a liquid even though it is still technically a powder.
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- The gun siphons out the powder by pushing high velocity air and propelling the powder from the feeder to the gun.
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- Most guns can spray powder anywhere from 10 to 25 feet. When the powder leaves the gun, it looks like a cloud that is moving toward the item that is being coded.
- An electrode on the tip of the spray gun emits a charge that is passed on to the particles of powder when they pass through the tip. That charge causes the powder particles to start looking for something to latch on to and form a protective coating over it.
So the powder coating process is very simple. After it has been applied, it is baked onto the item. The entire process is very simple to a regular painting job, except powder coating comes with a great many benefits over ordinary paint. For example, any powder that doesn’t attach to the item can be recycled, and the coating it provides is much thicker than paint. So powder coating is a way to give a smooth, protective coating to something, so what about Teflon™ coating?
The Teflon™ Industrial Coating Process
A Teflon™ coating has the ability to apply many other properties to the item it is being applied to. Of course Teflon’s™ non-stick properties are probably the most common ones desired, but there are a few other properties, like temperature-related properties, that might be the ones that are actually being sought. But whatever the property that is being sought from Teflon™, there are a couple of methods of application:
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- The surface of the item that is being coated with Teflon™ is sandblasted so that it receives a lot of tiny micro-abrasions. This rougher surface is easier for the non-stick Teflon™ to grab onto. However, this method has been shown to create a rather weak bond with the item it is being coated onto. This is why some cookware may be more easily scratched than others.
- A stronger bond can be created by using a resin as a bonding agent to help the Teflon™ stick onto the item.
Both of these two methods focus on overcoming the one property that so many people know Teflon™ for-it’s non-stick property. After all, it is very difficult to get something that doesn’t stick to anything to actually adhere onto an object. But once the Teflon™ coating is applied, you have a smooth surface that resists water and can stand up to a wide variety of temperatures. It’s perfect for numerous applications, both in the consumer and industrial sectors.
To learn more about our industrial powder coating services, call us at 888-912-5921 or ask an industrial coating engineer.