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Cerakote

Cerakote Thin-Film Coating

Contact Our Certified Cerakote Applicator

Cerakote is a proprietary ceramic polymer based coating that offers advanced durability, hardness, scratch resistance, corrosion resistance, flexibility, heat dissipation, and chemical resistance. For the unmatched quality that Cerakote is known for, application must be done by a certified Cerakote applicator.

For such an innovative coating, a partnership with an experienced and skilled finishing company is paramount, which is why Cerakote is now offered by our certified U.S. Chrome Corporation of New York facility. They are able to provide this quality finish to parts and components, in production volume, for a variety of industries including 3D printing, aerospace, alternative energy, automotive, defense, and oil & gas.

Features & Benefits of Cerakote

  • Superior Corrosion Resistance
  • Excellent Abrasion Resistance
  • Low Coefficient of Friction
  • High Temperature Protection
  • Advanced Heat Dissipation
  • High-End Look and Feel
  • VOC & REACH/RoHS Compliant

U.S. Chrome is one of the few certified, industrial finishing companies capable of offering production level services for Cerakote’s Elite Series, H Series, C Series, High Temperature Series, and Specialty Series.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What Industries Can Benefit from Cerakote?

3D Printing – 3D printed parts can have both performance and physical properties increased with the addition of Cerakote’s thin-film finish. Cerakote can provide hydrophobic properties, chemical resistance, scratch resistance, and thermal barrier properties. This post process finish modifies the surface of the polymer to increase hardness and durability.

 

Aerospace – For aerospace, Cerakote provides a single layer coating, 0.25-2.0 mils thin, that provides resistance to hydraulic fluids, fuels, solvents, acids, de-icing products, and commercial strength disinfectants. The coating’s UV stability protects from oxidation and degradation, while its hardness withstands impacts scratches and gouging. High temperature formulas provide a thermal barrier and heat dissipation that protects up to 1,800 degrees F without cracking, flaking, or spalling.

 

Other industries that use Cerakote for a competitive advantage include defense, industrial, marine, and oil and gas.

What are the different Cerakote Series?

Elite Series – Oven Cure
The Elite Series is the highest performance thin film coating available. The coating provides parts with the lowest coefficient of friction, rivaling Teflon®, for abrasion resistance and the highest levels of corrosion and chemical resistance, durability, and hardness. The Elite Series is perfect for applications requiring tight tolerances and typically eliminates the need for masking. It is commonly used in applications for aerospace, defense, electronics, marine, manufacturing, and more. The Elite Series is available in more than 15 different colors.

H Series – Oven Cure
The H Series is the most popular thin film coating available. The coating provides exceptional corrosion, wear, impact scratch and chemical resistance. This unique ceramic-polymer technology imparts both flexibility and excellent physical performance while adhering to tight tolerances. It is commonly used in applications for defense, electronics, marine, construction, and more. The H Series is available in more than 100 different colors.

C Series (High Temperature Series) – Air Cure

The C Series is a part of the Cerakote High Temperature Series and is the thinnest, most chemical resistant high temperature ceramic coating in the world. Formulated to withstand temperatures up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit, and providing excellent UV stability, it is commonly used in applications for aerospace, alternative energy, defense, industrial, manufacturing, and oil & gas. The C Series is available in more than 50 colors and is a great option for both large and small parts that cannot be oven cured.

V Series (High Temperature Series) – Oven Cure
The V Series is the thinnest, most durable high temperature ceramic coating that is formulated to withstand temperatures up to 1,800 degrees Fahrenheit. It offers industry leading heat-cycled corrosion resistance, withstands thermal shock without degrading or losing color, provides 100% UV stability, and is extremely chemical resistant. The V Series is commonly used in applications for aerospace, automotive, energy, industrial, and manufacturing. The V Series is available in more than 10 different colors.

Specialty Series – Air & Oven Cure

Each Specialty Coating is designed with specific performance attributes while maintaining the industry leading physical and chemical performance of Cerakote in a single layer, thin film coating. The Specialty Series is available in a number of different colors.

  • Electrical Barrier – Electrical barrier coating with a low dielectric constant
  • Micro Slick – Low coefficient of friction coating for high temperature applications
  • Piston Coatings – Low thermal conductive coatings, used primarily on top of pistons, engine valves and combustion chambers to insulate and reduce heat transfer.
  • Gen II NiR – Near-Infrared Signature Management
  • Transfer Grey Heat Dissipation – High thermally conductive coatings, used primarily for radiators, intercoolers, and heat exchangers.

Performance Clears – Air & Oven Cure
Performance Clears are the next generation of performance based clear coatings. These coatings feature industry leading durability, hardness, scratch resistance, flexibility, and chemical resistance. Designed specifically to be the thinnest, yet strongest clear coating on the market that can be applied to nearly any substrate, from composites and hydrographics, to metals and plastics.

How thick is Cerakote applied?

Cerakote is a single layer, ceramic coating that is designed to replace multiple layers of paint and powder coatings. The coating is designed to be a thin film that is applied between 0.25 – 2.0 mils. While Cerakote provides great protection to the substrate from corrosion and damage, it also provides an advantage in weight savings to your components.

What types of materials can Cerakote be applied to?

Parts made of nearly any material can be coated with Cerakote. Ferrous and non-ferrous metals, including all common alloys of aluminum, plastics, polymers, composites, PVD, hydrographics, and more.

Is Cerakote environmentally friendly?

Cerakote coatings are VOC Compliant in all 50 states and REACH/RoHS compliant.

What coatings can Cerakote replace?

Teflon/Xylan Coatings

For application environments located coastal and offshore, corrosion protection and efficient operation are significant to components such as bolts, threads, and fasteners. Not only is corrosion resistance important, but also wear and friction protection.

Testing Cerakote® E-100 Blackout coating against Teflon® Black 958G, Teflon® Metallic Black 420G, and Xylan® 142X coatings, used in marine applications, showed just how far ahead Cerakote is. Each of these coatings were applied to plain steel bolts and zinc plated nuts, and in accordance with ASTM B117, parts were placed in a Q-Fog salt chamber for evaluation.

  • Teflon® 420G – 24 Hours
  • Teflon® 958G – 48 Hours
  • Xylan® 1424 – 530 Hours
  • Cerakote® E-100 Blackout – 4,008 Hours


As shown, Cerakote® E-100 Blackout far exceeded the previous leading coatings corrosion protection by over 3,470 hours.

 

PVD/DLC Coatings

  • Corrosion
    • Cerakote’s aerospace and military-grade coatings provide 330 times the corrosion protection of PVD/DLC coatings, while also exceeding military standards by over 40 times.
  • Wear Resistance
    • Cerakote ceramic coatings provide an abrasive resistant surface finish that outlasted PVD/DLC coatings by 4,500 cycles in a modified ASTM D4060 Taber Abrasion test.
  • Chemical Resistance
    • A finish that provides excellent chemical resistance will protect your parts in even the harshest of conditions. Coatings will maintain the color and performance after exposure to chemicals such as cleaners, denatured alcohol, lacquer thinner, methyl ethyl ketone (MEK), acetone, gasoline, diesel, paint stripper, 5% HCL solutions, bleach, and more.
 

Black Nitride Coatings

Performance analysis gathered from ASTM B117 testing provided that Cerakote protection, when compared to black nitride was more than 150 times better. A part made of 416 stainless steel was treated with Black Nitride and put to test against a part made of mild steel that was finished with Cerakote. Both parts were placed into a salt chamber, set to 95 degrees Fahrenheit with a 5% salt concentration.

After just 8 hours, the stainless steel part with black nitride showed significant signs of rust. The mild steel part with Cerakote only started to show signs of corrosion after 1,206 hours. 

Who developed Cerakote?

Cerakote is an innovative product created by NIC Industries. Founded over 35 years ago, NIC Industries manufactures industry-leading coatings that are distributed and sold in nearly 90 countries around the world. Their complete line of products includes Cerakote, Prismatic Powders, and Performance Materials. US Chrome Corp. of New York is a Certified Applicator for production Cerakote work.

Does U.S. Chrome offer Cerakote near me?

U.S. Chrome Corporation offers Cerakote coating services at our New York location. With a large spray booth and experienced team, we are able to handle any of your large production jobs.

We're ready to work with you.

We’re confident US Chrome will be your best option for your Cerakote applications because of our engineering approach, exceptional customer service, and regional locations. Contact us with your questions or coating challenges. We’ll help you find the right answer.