The paint and pigment industry has been utilising the benefits of cleanability and resistance to adhesion offered by electropolishing (an 80 per cent reduction in the three-dimensional surface area) for many years. Particularly with water-based paints, cleanability and resistance to fouling increase dramatically following electropolishing. Unlike solvent-based paints, water-based paints contain finer pigments that adhere to a brushed surface with microscopic scratches. Electropolishing removes these ‘irregularities’ from the surface, thereby preventing deposits and subsequent pitting corrosion.

Nowadays, all reactors and mixing tanks for paint are electrolytically polished as a final finish.

Recommended treatments: grinding to the required roughness, electrolytic polishing.