When selecting the zinc pot material, the first thing to see is its ability to resist the corrosion of zinc liquid, while the requirements for its strength, oxidation resistance and other properties are relatively secondary. There is little carbon and silicon in industrial pure iron, and the corrosion rate of liquid zinc on pure iron is very small. Foreign countries often use pure iron to make zinc pots and other equipment parts immersed in zinc baths.

Most impurities and alloying elements will increase the corrosion of steel in zinc bath. The corrosion mechanism of steel in zinc bath is completely different from that of steel in atmosphere or water. Some steels with good corrosion resistance and oxidation resistance, such as stainless steel and heat-resistant steel, have lower corrosion resistance to molten zinc than low-carbon low silicon steel with higher purity. Therefore, low-carbon low silicon steel with higher purity is often used to make zinc pots. Adding a small amount of carbon and manganese () into steel has little effect on the corrosion resistance of steel to molten zinc, but it can improve the strength of steel. The chemical composition (maximum content of carbon, silicon, manganese, phosphorus and sulfur) of zinc pot steel provided by W.PILLING, a famous zinc pot manufacturer in Germany, is:. The steel with this composition has been confirmed as the special steel for zinc pot. In the past, China has always used 08F and 05F steels to make zinc pots. Although these steels are also low-carbon and low silicon steels, they are still not ideal zinc pot materials because they are rimmed steels with many oxide inclusions and poor structural compactness. In recent years, domestic iron and steel enterprises have also developed some special steel for zinc pot, which has achieved good results in practical application.

In addition to the requirements for the chemical composition of steel, it should also be emphasized that the composition segregation and local macro defects (porosity, slag inclusion, folding, porosity, etc.) of steel plate may cause great harm to the zinc pot. Therefore, it is necessary to strictly inspect the steel plate for zinc pot and the manufacturing quality of zinc pot.