Electrophoretic Deposition - Uses of EPD

Uses of EPD

This process is industrially used for applying coatings to metal fabricated products. It has been widely used to coat automobile bodies and parts, tractors and heavy equipment, electrical switch gear, appliances, metal furniture, beverage containers, fasteners, and many other industrial products.

EPD processes are often applied for the fabrication of supported titanium dioxide (TiO₂) photocatalysts for water purification applications, using precursor powders which can be immobilised using EPD methods onto various support materials. Thick films produced this way allow cheaper and more rapid synthesis relative to sol-gel thin-films, along with higher levels of photocatalyst surface area.

EPD processed have a number of advantages which have made such methods widely used

1. The process applies coatings which generally have a very uniform coating thickness without porosity.
2. Complex fabricated objects can easily be coated, both inside cavities as well as on the outside surfaces.
3. Relatively high speed of coating.
4. Relatively high purity.
5. Applicability to wide range of materials (metals, ceramics, polymers, etc.)
6. Easy control of the coating composition.
7. The process is normally automated and requires less human labor than other coating processes.
8. Highly efficient utilization of the coating materials result in lower costs relative to other processes.
9. The aqueous process which is commonly used has less risk of fire relative to the solvent-borne coatings that they have replaced.
10. Modern electrophoretic paint products are significantly more environmentally friendly than many other painting technologies.

Thick, complex ceramic pieces have been made in several research laboratories. Furthermore, EPD has been used to produce customized microstructures, such as functional gradients and laminates, through suspension control during processing.