Characteristics of Colored Stainless Steel Sheets

With the emergence of stainless steel in the decoration industry, people are no longer satisfied with the monotonous color of the original stainless steel sheet. Therefore, colored stainless steel sheets emerged as people expected. The emergence of colored stainless steel sheets not only compensates for the monotonous color of the original stainless steel sheet but also retains various excellent properties of the original stainless steel sheet. In this article, we will summarize the characteristics of colored stainless steel sheets.

Colors of Colored Stainless Steel Sheets

Colored stainless steel sheets are technically and artistically processed on the basis of the original stainless steel sheet, resulting in various colorful decorative sheets with various colors such as sapphire blue, gray titanium gold, black titanium, rose gold, champagne gold, and more.

Colored stainless steel sheets do not obtain their colors by painting on the steel, nor do they obtain their colors through fuel dyeing like colored aluminum sheets. The color of colored stainless steel sheets is not inherent and is obtained primarily through the layer of colorless and transparent oxide film on the surface. When light is incident on this film, the reflected light and the refracted light undergo interference phenomenon. This phenomenon is similar to the colorful effect of water surface oil grinding. The color of colored stainless steel sheets mainly depends on the chemical composition, structure, brightness, incident light, and thickness of the oxide film on the surface.

However, among all these factors, the thickness of the oxide film plays a decisive role. The thickness of the oxide film is generally within the range of 200~400nm. If the oxide film is thin, it will appear blue or brown; if the oxide film is medium, it will appear golden yellow or red; if the oxide film is thick, it will appear green or even black.

Characteristics of Colored Stainless Steel Sheets

Colored stainless steel sheets have strong corrosion resistance and high mechanical properties, with a colorful layer that does not fade over time. The gloss also changes with the angle, and the colorful surface layer can withstand high temperatures of 200℃. Its salt spray corrosion resistance is better than that of ordinary stainless steel sheets, and its wear resistance and scratch resistance are equivalent to gold-plated performance. The most important feature is that when the colored stainless steel sheet is bent to 90 degrees, the color layer on the surface will not be damaged.

Due to its beautiful color and excellent performance, colored stainless steel sheets are widely used in various decorative environments such as hall walls, ceilings, elevator compartments, vehicle panels, building decorations, and advertising boards. Decorative walls made of colored stainless steel sheets are not only more solid and durable than ordinary decorative materials but also more beautiful and novel, with a strong sense of modern times.

How are colored stainless steel sheets colored?

First, we need to know that the main methods for coloring stainless steel sheets include ion deposition of oxides or hydroxides, high-temperature oxidation, chemical oxidation, electrochemical oxidation, and gas-phase pyrolysis. The chemical coloring process for colored stainless steel is: stainless steel products → mechanical polishing → cleaning → alkaline degreasing → cleaning → electrolytic polishing → cleaning → activation → cleaning → chemical coloring → coloring film curing treatment → cleaning → sealing → cleaning → drying → finished product.

For example, if the surface of a stainless steel plate is to be blackened, a solution composed of manganese sulfate, potassium sulfate, potassium dichromate, ammonium sulfate, and sulfuric acid can be used. Keeping the temperature at around 98℃, the time required is 5-15 minutes for chemical blackening.

Alternatively, blackening can also be achieved through electrolysis in an electrolyte composed of manganese sulfate, potassium dichromate, ammonium sulfate, and boric acid. Manganese sulfate acts as the blackening agent, while potassium sulfate and potassium dichromate serve as oxidizing agents. Ammonium sulfate controls the reaction rate by neutralizing the solution, while sulfuric acid and boric acid are used to adjust the pH value.

The ion deposition of oxides or hydroxides is to place the stainless steel plate in a vacuum coating machine for vacuum evaporation coating. For high-temperature oxidation, the stainless steel plate is immersed in a specific molten salt and maintained at a certain process range to form a certain thickness of oxide film. For chemical oxidation, the stainless steel plate is immersed in a specific solution to form an oxide film through chemical oxidation. For electrochemical oxidation, the stainless steel plate is placed in a specific electrolyte solution for electrolysis, resulting in the formation of an oxide film.

Summary

Thank you for reading our article and we hope it can help you to have a better understanding of the characteristics of colored stainless steel sheets. If you want to know more about the characteristics of colored stainless steel sheets, we advise you to visit Sino Stainless Steel for more information. As a leading supplier of colored stainless steel sheets across the world, Sino Stainless Steel offers high-quality colored stainless steel sheets, stainless steel angle bars, cold-rolled precision stainless steel strips, stainless steel wire, sheets, and embossed stainless steel plates at an extremely competitive price.