Zinc plated or electro-zinc plated
Zinc plating, or "cold galvanizing" (which is more a marketing term than a real process) is simply to paint a piece of steel with zinc dust paint and special resins by means of a gun, brush or roller, which does not It will have the durability of hot dip galvanizing in terms of abrasion resistance, cathodic protection and service life (or time until first maintenance). The cathodic protection offered by zinc-rich paint is inferior to hot-dip galvanization because there are binders and other elements in the paint that limit the connectivity of zinc particles.

In order for this type of product to have a corrosion resistance equivalent to hot dip galvanizing, it is required that the dry film contains a minimum of 95% zinc. It is also necessary that the layer is conductive of electricity, only with these 2 characteristics is it able to protect the steel galvanically (cathodic protection). These requirements are regulated by ISO 8501.1, and for this reason, as zinc-rich paints do not meet them, they cannot be considered for galvanic protection.

Hot dip galvanized
Hot dip galvanizing is the process of immersion of steel or iron manufactured in a boiler or bath of molten zinc. The process is inherently simple, which provides a distinct advantage in contrast to other corrosion protection methods. It is regulated by ISO UNE EN ISO 1461, which is the international standard for hot-dip galvanized coatings in iron and steel products.