Hydrogen Embrittlement Protection Coating (HEPCO)

氢脆保护涂层 (HEPCO)

• 批准号: 10075545
• 金额: $ 40.34万
• 依托单位: CAMBRIDGE NANOLITIC LIMITED
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Collaborative R&D
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2023 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=10075545
• 关键词: Hydrogen; Embrittlement; Protection; Coating; HEPCO

**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.

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。创新型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共同努力的成果，旨在为氢经济提供一种使能技术，以防止氢脆引起的金属部件故障。目前，人们通过选择特殊的、通常昂贵的金属合金来降低 HE 水平，从而预防 HE 的发生。这对组件的成本产生了负面影响，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），并且通常作为商业秘密保存。然而，众所周知，常用的 HPB 是基于金（Au，非常昂贵）和镉（Cd，有毒）的。英国公司 Cambridge Nanolitic Limited (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陶瓷保护层。 ECO 涂层已在汽车、包装、纺织和电子行业成功商业化，作为耐腐蚀和耐磨的保护涂层，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竞争技术。 ECO 涂层是一种以原子方式结合到铝基材上的致密纳米晶氧化铝层。由于纳米晶体结构，它能够抵抗热变形和机械变形。CNL 技术对氢的应用将通过增强纳米陶瓷氧化物层的结构来实现。众所周知，氧化铝是一种完美的 HPB 材料。通过适当的介质对ECO陶瓷进行密封，可进一步增强抗氢渗透能力。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拥有成功的经验。 NTTF 有能力和技能开发 ECO 陶瓷的最佳面漆密封，以构建具有高效 HPB 特性的组合涂层。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。该项目被认为将为理解氢脆过程带来学术和应用科学贡献，从而产生高效的 HE 保护技术。