Conductive Powder

Q. I’m in need of your help. Does the Powder Coating market/industry, supply or make available any Powder Coating that is also conductive? Would there be the chance of adding say nickel or copper to the Powder Coating to help this conductivity? Appreciate your time and help. B.C.

A. Yes, there are powder coatings that exhibit some conductive properties. These coatings are mainly used to provide grounding for EMI/RFI applications. Sometimes they are used on surfaces to reduce electrostatic charging on products where static build-up is a problem. They are formulated by adding metal flakes into the coating and/or carbon to increase conductivity. You should understand that these materials are “conductive” only to a point. They will never be as conductive as bare metal. There is often a fair amount of resistance to ground, comparatively speaking. Check with your powder supplier for details and maximum conductivity (or resistance to pure ground) before using these materials.

Using these materials may require some changes in equipment. For instance, electrostatic electrodes on application guns can “short,” requiring electrodes to be located outside the powder stream. Check with your equipment supplier for more details, as well.