Due to its ease of operation and its usefulness in polishing irregularly-shaped objects, electropolishing has become a common process in the production of semiconductors.
As electropolishing can also be used to sterilize workpieces, the process plays an essential role in the food, medical, and pharmaceutical industries.
It is commonly used in the post-production of large metal pieces such as those used in drums of washing machines, bodies of ocean vessels and aircraft, and automobiles.
While nearly any metal may be electropolished, the most-commonly polished metals are 300- and 400-series stainless steel, aluminum, copper, titanium, and nickel- and copper-alloys.
Ultra-high vacuum (UHV) components are typically electropolished in order to have a smoother surface for improved vacuum pressures, out-gassing rates, and pumping speed.
Electropolishing is commonly used to prepare thin metal samples for transmission electron microscopy and atom probe tomography because the process does not mechanically deform surface layers like mechanical polishing does.