Hydrogen Embrittlement Protection Coating (HEPCO)

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**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.