Solid-state chemistry has many facets – one of which, synthetic metals, was pioneered by Alan G. MacDiarmid. Another is powder coating – a completely dry coating process that grows in importance with increasing restriction on the use of volatile organic compounds. Discussed are the fundamentals of powder coating with polyamide-11, and the development of a non-traditional application method – thermal spray. Polyamide-11 is of unique interest – it derives from a renewable resource – castor beans.