Powder coatings are polymer powders that are used to coat a wide range of consumer products today, such as, washing machines, office furniture and even cars. This type of coating is usually applied as a free flowing powder through a electrostatic device of some kind. Once coated they are then heated at high temperatures into a hard finish. They have a typical size range of 30-75 microns.
Powder coatings have a wide range of advantages compared to conventional liquid coatings of such products. Coating thickness is usually much thicker tha a liquid coating and doesn’t cause issues such as sagging or running as is common in such liquid paint systems. Additional benefits such as reduction in organic compound emission, coating efficiency as overspray can be recycled leading to recycled product.
As with many powder based products they are manufactured through a process of milling. The reduction in size in the manufacturing process has a direct impact on upon the its physical properties. Colour, opacity, and hue are all physical properties that affected by particle size.
The LS-609 is ideally suited to the measurement of powder coatings.
