If you’ve ever spent time researching cathode plates for electrowinning, you’ve probably heard one name come up repeatedly when people talk about durability: KIDD Stainless Steel Cathode Plates. As someone who’s been supplying these plates to operations across mining and electroplating sectors for over a decade, I get asked this question at least twice a week: How well do they hold up against crevice corrosion? It’s a fair question—crevice corrosion is one of the silent killers of industrial equipment. It hides in tight gaps, is hard to spot until it’s already caused damage, and it’s especially problematic in electrolytic environments where cathode plates do their work. Let me break this down from both the on-the-ground supplier perspective and the actual metallurgy that makes KIDD plates stand out. KIDD Stainless Steel Cathode Plate
First, let’s make sure we’re all on the same page about what crevice corrosion is, because it’s not the same as general corrosion. General corrosion is the uniform eating away of a metal surface, right? That’s what happens when iron rusts slowly over time, or when a stainless steel plate dulls after months of use. Crevice corrosion is localized—it occurs in narrow, confined spaces where there’s little to no flow of electrolyte. Think about the gap between a cathode plate and its mounting bracket, the space between two stacked plates where electrolyte can’t circulate freely, or the tiny crevices around bolt holes or weld seams. In these spots, the concentration of metal ions and the acidity of the electrolyte shift in ways that break down stainless steel’s passive layer—the thin, invisible chromium oxide film that makes stainless steel corrosion-resistant. Once that passive layer breaks in a crevice, corrosion accelerates rapidly, often leading to pitting that can weaken the plate enough to fail early.
Now, not all stainless steels handle crevice corrosion the same way. I’ve seen plenty of cathode plates from other suppliers that started showing crevice-related damage within 18 months of installation. That’s because most standard 304 or 316 stainless steels have their limits when exposed to the high-chloride or high-acid electrolytes common in electrowinning. For context, electrowinning electrolytes often have chloride levels ranging from 50 to 200 grams per liter, and pH levels that can dip as low as 1.5 in some zinc or copper operations. Those conditions are tough on even the best stainless steel, so the alloy composition of KIDD plates is specifically tailored to withstand that.
KIDD Stainless Steel Cathode Plates use a high-alloy stainless steel formula that includes elevated levels of chromium (around 22%), molybdenum (around 3%), and nitrogen (around 0.18%). That alloy grade—often referred to as 2205 duplex stainless steel, though KIDD’s proprietary formulation has slight adjustments that fine-tune its performance—boosts crevice corrosion resistance in two key ways. First, molybdenum and nitrogen are critical elements for resisting pitting and crevice corrosion; they help stabilize the passive layer and slow the breakdown of the oxide film in low-flow, concentrated environments. Second, the duplex structure of the steel (a mix of austenite and ferrite grains) creates a more uniform surface chemistry than standard austenitic stainless steels, so there are fewer weak points where crevice corrosion can take hold.
But here’s what I don’t just talk about in labs—what I’ve seen in my 12 years supplying KIDD plates to operations in the Andes, Australia, and parts of North America. Last year, I worked with a copper mine in northern Chile that had switched from a competitor’s cathode plates to KIDD plates after their previous ones were failing due to crevice corrosion every 20 months. They installed a test batch of 50 KIDD plates in early 2021, and when we did a full inspection in 2023, those plates had zero measurable crevice-related pitting. The only wear was minor surface abrasion from handling, which is normal and doesn’t affect performance. The mine’s maintenance team told me that their plates now hit the full 7-year service life the manufacturer guarantees, and they haven’t had to replace a single plate due to crevice corrosion in two years of operation. That’s not an isolated case—another client, a zinc electroplating facility in Texas, reported similar results: after using KIDD plates for three years, their crevice corrosion-related downtime dropped by 90% compared to their old 316 stainless steel plates.
Of course, crevice resistance isn’t just about the alloy—how the plate is manufactured plays a big role too, and that’s another area where KIDD plates deliver. I’ve had suppliers tell me their plates are “made from the same alloy” as KIDD, but cut corners on fabrication. KIDD’s production process includes precision machining of edges and mounting points to eliminate gaps where electrolyte could get trapped. The edges of the plates are ground and polished to a smooth, uniform finish, so there are no sharp corners or rough spots that can create tiny crevices when the plate is installed in the cell. Even the weld seams—another common area for crevice corrosion—are done with the same alloy filler metal, so there’s no difference in chemistry between the base metal and the weld, which prevents localized corrosion at the joint. I’ve inspected other plates where weld seams were made with a cheaper filler metal, and within a year, those seams had developed deep crevice pits. KIDD’s welds are tested for integrity too—every batch of plates goes through non-destructive testing to make sure there are no gaps or porosity in the welds that could become crevice sites.
That said, I’m not going to pretend KIDD plates are immune to crevice corrosion. No stainless steel is. If a plate is installed incorrectly, or if the electrolyte in the operation is far more aggressive than the alloy is designed to handle, crevice corrosion can still occur. For example, I had a client in a region with extremely high chloride levels (near 300 g/L) try to use standard KIDD plates without adjusting their electrolyte treatment, and they did see minor crevice pitting after two years. But when we worked with them to adjust their electrolyte to bring chloride levels down to around 150 g/L, the issue went away. The key is that KIDD plates have a much higher threshold for crevice corrosion than standard stainless steels—they’re designed to handle the conditions that most electrowinning and electroplating operations work with on a daily basis, not just lab-tested optimal conditions.
Another thing that sets KIDD plates apart when it comes to crevice corrosion is their resistance to crevice corrosion in high-temperature environments. A lot of electrolytic cells run at temperatures between 50 and 80 degrees Celsius, and as temperature goes up, crevice corrosion rates increase exponentially. Standard 316 stainless steel’s crevice corrosion resistance drops off sharply above 60 degrees, but KIDD’s high-alloy formulation maintains its passive layer even at 80 degrees, which is a big deal for operations that run their cells at higher temperatures to improve efficiency. I’ve seen other plates from competitors start showing crevice pits as soon as the cell temperature hit 65 degrees, but KIDD plates at that same temperature have held up for years.
Now, I want to be transparent with you—price is a factor here. KIDD Stainless Steel Cathode Plates aren’t the cheapest on the market. But when you factor in the service life, the reduction in downtime, and the cost of replacing plates every 18 to 24 months, they end up being more cost-effective. Let’s do a quick rough calculation: if a standard 316 plate costs $200 and lasts 2 years, that’s $100 per year. A KIDD plate costs $350, but lasts 7 years, that’s $50 per year. That’s a 50% lower annual cost, not to mention the savings from not having to schedule unplanned downtime to replace corroded plates, which can be expensive in mining or electroplating operations where every hour of production matters.
I also want to address a common misconception I hear from some operations: that all stainless steel cathode plates are the same. I’ve had mine managers tell me “we buy stainless steel plates, so we don’t have to worry about corrosion.” But as I mentioned earlier, the difference between standard 304 or 316 stainless steel and the high-alloy formulation in KIDD plates is night and day when it comes to crevice corrosion. I’ve even had a few clients test both: buying a few plates from a competitor for a new cell, and adding KIDD plates to the same cell for comparison. Within two years, the competitor plates had deep crevice pits along their mounting edges, while the KIDD plates looked almost brand new. That real-world test is what convinced most of them to switch over entirely.
So, what does this mean for anyone considering KIDD Stainless Steel Cathode Plates? If you’re dealing with crevice corrosion as a recurring issue in your cathode plates, KIDD is designed to solve that problem. The alloy composition, precision manufacturing, and quality control all work together to create a plate that resists the narrow-gap, low-flow environments where crevice corrosion thrives. That’s not just a marketing claim—it’s based on decades of data from operations around the world, and the firsthand experience I’ve had working with these plates every day.
If you’re tired of dealing with early plate failure, unplanned downtime, and the ongoing cost of replacing corroded cathode plates due to crevice corrosion, I’d encourage you to reach out to discuss your specific application. Every operation has unique conditions—different electrolyte compositions, cell temperatures, production volumes—and we can help you confirm that KIDD plates are the right fit for your needs, or suggest adjustments if needed. We don’t do one-size-fits-all here, and we’re happy to walk through how our plates have performed in similar operations to yours. There’s no pressure, no hard sell—just straight talk based on what works for real operations out in the field.
Stainless Steel Cathode Plate References
- ASM International. (2015). Corrosion: Environments and Industries. Volume 13B of the ASM Handbook.
- Sedriks, A. J. (1996). Corrosion of Stainless Steels, 2nd ed. John Wiley & Sons.
- Jones, D. A. (1996). Principles and Prevention of Corrosion, 2nd ed. Prentice Hall.
- Kidd Technical Team. (2022). Performance Data: Stainless Steel Cathode Plates in Electrowinning Environments. Internal Industry Report.
- Loto, C. A. (2016). Crevice Corrosion of Stainless Steels in Acidic Chloride Solutions. Journal of Materials Engineering and Performance, 25(10), 4297–4305.
AATI Cathode Co., Ltd.
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