Overview: Advantages of Cerakote over Anodizing
Cerakote offers several advantages over anodizing, especially in terms of material variety, protective performance, and design freedom. While anodizing is limited to aluminum, Cerakote can be applied to significantly more materials. Additionally, it offers high resistance to corrosion, chemicals, and abrasion, as well as a wide range of colors with a thin layer application.
CERAKOTE
UV stability
for durable color and surface quality
Temperature Stability
temperature-resistant up to 1000°C
Chemical resistance
reliable protection against many chemicals
Corrosion Resistance
very good corrosion protection even under harsh conditions
Color selection
large color selection with many design options
Application
applicable to many materials, not just aluminum
Color Consistency
ensures consistent & reproducible color results
Environmental Impacts
REACH, RoHS, and Prop 65 compliant
Anodized aluminum
UV Stability
good UV stability
Temperature stability
less flexible under extreme loads
Chemical resistance
basic protection, limited depending on the medium
Corrosion Resistance
proven corrosion protection, especially for aluminum
Color selection
significantly more color-restricted and less flexible
Application
cumbersome and costly
Color Consistency
results that are difficult to reproduce
Environmental Impacts
requires wastewater treatment and waste disposal
Color and Application Options
Cerakote offers significantly more color and design options than anodizing. The coating is available in many shades, effects, and surface variations and can be flexibly applied to different materials. This makes Cerakote particularly suitable for projects where individual aesthetics and high recognition value are as important as function.
CERAKOTE
Unique
Cerakote offers over 200 unique and popular colors and can be applied to all ferrous and non-ferrous metals, plastics, composites, and many other substrates, making it a universal coating alternative to anodizing. This opens up more design and finishing options for your customers.
Anodized aluminum
Limited Edition
Due to the chemicals used, anodizing offers a very limited color selection and can only be applied to aluminum and titanium surfaces.
Infrastructure and Application
The processing of Cerakote requires suitable pretreatment, a clean spray environment, and controlled curing. Depending on the component, degreasing, blasting, and oven processes are also involved. Anodizing, on the other hand, requires a significantly more complex industrial infrastructure with electrochemical systems, making it less flexible for smaller applications.
CERAKOTE
Accessible
The required Cerakote coating system is cost-effective and space-saving, making it ideal for small to large production volumes.
Anodizing
Impractical
Anodizing requires costly equipment, storage space, and chemicals that take up a lot of room.
Colorfastness
Cerakote impresses with its very high color fastness and maintains a uniform appearance even with intensive use. Compared to anodizing, significantly more color options are available without the surface quickly losing its effect. This makes Cerakote particularly attractive for applications where both function and appearance are equally important.
CERAKOTE
Uniform
Cerakote adheres to all aluminum and titanium alloys, allowing customers to achieve consistent colors and finishes regardless of the substrate. Cerakote's colorfastness is rated at < ±1Δ, resulting in improved quality, less waste, and cost savings.
ANODIZING
Uncontrolled
It is known that color consistency varies widely from part to part and batch to batch due to chemical variations and subtle differences in the substrate that cannot be controlled.
Environmental impact
Regarding environmental impact, anodizing, as an established process, is often well-known and widely used technically. Cerakote, on the other hand, scores primarily with its thin layer structure and long durability, which can reduce rework and frequent re-coatings. This can enable Cerakote to contribute to more efficient resource use in practice.
CERAKOTE
Compliant
Cerakote contains no heavy metals and is VOC compliant in all 50 states. Cerakote is a REACH, ROHS, and Prop 65 compliant coating.
Anodized aluminum
Dangerous
The anodizing process involves the use of acids, which can be hazardous and require wastewater treatment and waste disposal, which can be costly.
How Cerakote and anodizing affect aluminum alloys
Cerakote does NOT adversely affect the strength properties of aluminum alloys. Anodizing creates a brittle and porous oxide layer as well as residual tensile stress, both of which negatively affect the strength properties of aluminum alloys. This effect, which occurs during anodizing, has been observed many times.
Left: Cerakote. Right: Anodized.
In-house production
External manufacturing
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