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共同努力，为氢经济提供一种使能技术，以防止由HE引起的金属部件故障。目前，通过选择具有降低的HE水平的特殊的、通常昂贵的金属合金来寻求防止HE。这在组件的成本中得到了负面反映，并限制了氢的应用领域。防止HE的替代方法是应用氢渗透屏障（HPB）涂层。尽管存在一些商业HPB，但它们仅限于利基应用（例如，H2瓶），并经常作为商业机密保存。然而，已知常用的HPB基于金（Au，非常昂贵）和镉（Cd，有毒）。英国公司剑桥Nanolitic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涂层已成功地在汽车、包装、纺织和电子工业中商业化，作为耐腐蚀和耐磨的保护涂层，上级阳极氧化、等离子喷涂陶瓷、PVD和等离子电解氧化等竞争技术。ECO涂层是一种以原子键合的方式紧密堆积在铝基材上的纳米晶氧化铝层。由于纳米结构，它是耐热和机械变形。适应CNL技术的氢应用将通过增强纳米陶瓷氧化物层的结构。氧化铝是一种理想的HPB材料。采用合适的介质对ECO陶瓷进行密封，可进一步提高其抗氢渗透性能。德国NTTF公司在开发氧化铝等各种材料的阻隔涂层方面拥有成功的经验。NTTF有能力和技术开发ECO陶瓷的最佳面漆密封，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.