The role of powder coating is usually to provide surface protection and secondly to give decorative finish. The economic and environmental pressure to decrease the use and emission of solvents, along with the introduction of increasingly stringent legislation to ensure the strict observation of health and safety regulations, has encouraged the use of powder coating as viable alternatives to solvent based liquid paints.

The technique of electrostatic deposition of charged paint particles was developed and established in 1950, based on principle, whereby paint particles transported by air pressure to the spray head of dispensing gun, receive an electrostatic charge and any grounded or earthen substrate in the path of the projected paint attracts and retain the articles by electrostatic adhesion. This is basic concept of powder coating applications.

Three most commonly used methods of powder charging are,

1. Corona method or ionization technique.
2. Tribo electric or electrostatic application.
3. Air ionizing or triboplus, a combination of both corona and tribo methods.
However, most commonly used is Corona Electrostatic method.

A number of advantages have been observed in the use of powder coating technology. Some of these advantages have been listed below. A substantial increase of market of powder coating is expected during the year 2004, mainly due to various advantages of powder coating as under:

Material is ready for direct use.
Total system is solvent free; both at supply stage, application stage.
Controlled high film thickness of coated film.
Generally single coat application.
High quality coating
Suitable for many substances, including substrates with low electrical conductivity, heats sensitive metallic and non-metallic substrates.
High productivity and space saving curing processes.
High-speed coating for flat substrates.
Saves considerable amount of time and labor.
Powder coating application technique is far easier to apply than conventional paints, hence high skill labor not required.
No flame hazards and flameproof plant not required, resulting into more savings.
Reduce energy requirements.
High utilization of paint (powder), to the extent of 97% with re-cycling and recovery plant.
No effluent disposal problems.
Health hazards reduced better safety
No ecological problems or air pollution.
Component processing time is reduced, since no primer or surfaces required any flash off time required.
Due to high productivity, lower production cost of each component or unit.
More uniforms leading to more consistent performance.
Higher mechanical and chemical properties.
More cleaners working area, conditions.
Better and easier is plant maintenance.
Complete applications can be highly automated.
Powder coating paints are available in many shades quality as per requirement.
Low rate rejections of components.
Reduced packing and handling costs.
Fuel and energy saving.
Less working and application area required.
Better storage in less area.
Environment friendly.