Hydrogen Embrittlement Protection Coating (HEPCO)

正如英国和欧盟政府政策所反映的那样，氢被认为是到2050年实现净零排放的基本能源载体。然而，氢的使用带来了重大的材料挑战，其中氢脆(HE)**是最关键的。创新氢脆保护涂层的开发是英国和德国材料科学公司和研究机构的共同努力，为氢经济提供了一种使能技术，以防止由HE引起的金属部件失效。目前，预防HE是通过选择特殊的，通常是昂贵的金属合金来降低HE水平。这在组件的成本和限制氢的应用领域上产生了负面影响。防止HE的另一种方法是应用氢渗透屏障（HPB）涂层。虽然存在一些商业hpb，但它们仅限于利基应用（例如H2瓶），并且通常作为商业机密保存。然而，众所周知，常用的HPBs是基于金（Au，非常昂贵）和镉（Cd，有毒）。英国剑桥纳米政治有限公司（CNL）开发了一种创新技术，通过专有的环保电化学氧化（ECO）技术，在金属部件上构建保护陶瓷层。ECO涂层已经成功地在汽车、包装、纺织和电子行业商业化，作为一种耐腐蚀和耐磨的保护涂层，其性能优于阳极氧化、等离子喷涂陶瓷、PVD和等离子电解氧化等最先进的技术。ECO涂层是一种致密的纳米晶氧化铝层，原子结合到铝基材上。由于纳米晶结构，它是耐热和机械变形。通过增强纳米陶瓷氧化层的结构，使CNL技术适应于氢气的应用。氧化铝被认为是一种完美的HPB材料。采用合适的介质对ECO陶瓷进行密封，可进一步提高ECO陶瓷的抗氢渗透性。德国NTTF公司在开发包括氧化铝在内的各种材料的屏障涂层方面拥有成功的经验。NTTF有能力和技能为ECO陶瓷开发最佳面漆密封，以构建具有高效HPB性能的组合涂层。新型HPB涂层的表征将由马克斯普朗克铁研究所（德国）和克兰菲尔德大学（英国）进行。该项目被认为将在理解氢脆过程方面带来学术和应用科学贡献，从而产生有效的HE保护技术。

**Hydrogen** is considered a fundamental energy vector to achieve net zero emissions by 2050, as reflected both by UK and EU government policies. However, use of hydrogen brings significant material challenges, with **hydrogen embrittlement (HE)** being the most critical. Development of innovative Hydrogen Embrittlement Protection Coating is a collaborative effort of UK and German material science companies and research institutions to provide Hydrogen economy with an enabling technology to prevent failures of metal components caused by HE. Currently prevention of HE is sought through selection of special, often expensive metal alloys that have reduced level of HE. That is negatively reflected in the cost of the components and limits areas of hydrogen application. Alternative approach to prevent HE is application of Hydrogen Permeation Barrier (HPB) coatings. Although some commercial HPBs exist, they are limited to niche applications (e.g., H2 bottles) and are often kept as trade secret. It is known however that often-used HPBs are based on Gold (Au, very expensive) and Cadmium (Cd, toxic). UK company Cambridge Nanolitic Limited (CNL) developed an innovative technology for building protective ceramic layers on metal components by a proprietary environmentally friendly electro-chemical oxidation (ECO) technology. ECO coating has been successfully commercialised in automotive, packaging, textile, and electronic industries as corrosion- and wear- resistant protective coatings superior to competing state of the art technologies of anodising, plasma sprayed ceramic, PVD and Plasma Electrolytic Oxidation. ECO coating is a densely packed nanocrystalline aluminium oxide layer atomically bonded to aluminium substrate. Due to nanocrystalline structure it is resistant to thermal and mechanical deformations.Adaptation of CNL technology for hydrogen application will be made by enhancing the structure of nanoceramic oxide layer. Aluminium oxide is known to be a perfect HPB material. Hydrogen permeation resistance would be further enhanced through sealing of ECO ceramic by appropriate media.German company NTTF has a successful experience in developing barrier coatings for various materials including Alumina. NTTF has capacities and skills to development optimal topcoat sealing for ECO ceramic to build a combined coating with efficient HPB properties.Characterisation of novel HPB coatings will be conducted by The Max Planck Institute of Iron Research (Germany) and Cranfield University (UK). The project is believed to bring both academic and applied scientific contribution in understanding Hydrogen Embrittlement processes resulting in an efficient HE protection technology.