Powder coating polymer

We are working on a screening system for office environments.

I would just like to know if anyone has experience in powder coating polymers e.g. ABS, PP, Nylon.

Basically, we have a part which would have to be injection moulded, which fits into an aluminium extrusion, and it would be great to be able to powder coat both parts with the same colour.

the backing process of powered coating (temperature wise) usually doesn’t allow for plastic parts to be powder coated.

Spec the plastic color in the raw material then mix a custom powder coat to match… not ideal because the match is never 100 percent perfect.

Is it at all possible to have the plastic or the extrusion be an accent piece (color pop)?

We do a lot of powder coating at work and have “color matched” our plastic parts to our powder colors, but as Chevisw said, it’s close but still noticeably different.

My only other thought is that there may be some possibility of painting the plastic, I’ve seen some heavily coated parts that almost resemble a powder coat finish. Maybe you could have the paint and powder color matched?

It is possible to powercoat plastic. The biggest problem being how it deforms in the 30 minutes in a 400-450F oven. Thin walled, unsupported plastic will most definitely deform.

ABS and PP I think would be a bad candidate versus a nylon.

Nylon and ABS are good candidates for spray painting. You should be able to match a paint to a powdercoat. The thick finishes possible with painting are comparable to the powdercoat look on metal.

Nylon has the highest melt temperature but the properties benefits from moisture content. Drying it out in an oven and sealing it might result in more brittleness.

This may turn into more of a science project than you want.

I’ve seen car guys powder coat plastic parts but it was NOT with the standard charge + spray + bake process. Since the plastic will not hold a charge they heat the plastic part up in an oven or with a heat gun, spray on the powder, and then use the heat gun to bake on the powder.

For one off parts it’s fine, but it is not an easily repeated mass production process and will not work well if you are trying to do a metal part at the same time.

I’d consider coating your aluminum part, color matching your plastic, painting your plastic, or embracing a color break in the materials.