HEPCO

The Development of an Innovative Coating to Protect Against Hydrogen Embrittlement (HEPCO) is a collaborative project between UK and German SMEs and research institutions in the field of materials science, supported by Innovate UK and the Central Innovation Program for SMEs (ZIM), which started on December 1, 2023. The project aims to develop a breakthrough technology to prevent failures of metal components caused by hydrogen embrittlement (HE), which is a limiting factor for the growth of the hydrogen economy. The project is based on an innovative approach to produce hydrogen permeation barriers (HBP) on metals through a synergistic combination of the original electrochemical oxidation technology (ECO) to form nanoceramic layers developed by Cambridge Nanolitic Ltd (CNL) with a novel vacuum coating/sealing technology from the German partner NTTF. The Max Planck Institute for Sustainable Materials GmbH (Germany) will perform the microstructural/mechanical characterization of the coatings and the HE of the underlying metal. Hydrogen permeation and embrittlement will be measured by Cranfield University (UK) with their unique HE direct measurement facilities.