Hydrogen Embrittlement Protection Coating (HEPCO)

**氢**被认为是到2050年实现净零排放的基本能源载体，英国和欧盟政府的政策都反映了这一点。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。创新的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合作努力，旨在为氢经济提供使能技术，以防止由HE导致的金属部件失效。目前寻求通过选择特殊的、通常昂贵的金属合金来预防HE，这些合金降低了HE的水平。这负面地反映在零部件的成本和氢气应用的限制领域。防止HE的另一种方法是应用氢渗透屏障(HPB)涂层。尽管存在一些商用HPB，但它们仅限于利基应用(例如H2瓶)，并且通常作为商业秘密保密。然而，众所周知，常用的HPB是以黄金(Au，非常昂贵)和镉(Cd，有毒)为基础的。英国公司剑桥纳米科技有限公司(CNL)开发了一项创新技术，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性陶瓷层。ECO涂层已成功地在汽车、包装、纺织和电子工业中商业化，作为耐蚀和耐磨保护涂层，优于与之竞争的最先进技术，如阳极氧化、等离子喷涂陶瓷、PVD和等离子电解氧化。ECO涂层是一种紧密堆积的纳米晶氧化铝涂层，与铝基材原子结合。由于纳米晶的结构，它可以抵抗热变形和机械变形。CNL技术将通过增强纳米陶瓷氧化层的结构来适应氢气应用。氧化铝被认为是一种完美的HPB材料。德国NTTF公司在开发包括氧化铝在内的各种材料的阻隔涂层方面具有成功的经验。NTTF有能力和技能为生态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。该项目被认为在理解氢脆过程方面带来了学术和应用科学贡献，从而产生了一种有效的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.