Various types of coatings have been developed in the past or are still being developed and evaluated in some cases:

  • Au (gold)
  • Pt (platinum)
  • Ti (titanium)
  • Metal nitrides (titanium nitride and others)
  • DLC (diamond-like-carbon, diamond-like carbon in various compositions)
  • Multilayer coatings (consist of several functional layers of different materials)

These coatings can be deposited using PVD (physical vapor deposition). The following processes are used:

  • Arc evaporation (arc evaporation)
  • Magnetron sputtering (magnetron sputtering)
  • PECVD (plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition)

The objectives of coatings used in the hydrogen economy are

  • Corrosion protection
  • Reduction of contact resistance
  • Extending the service life of the coated parts
  • Protection of other components e.g. MEA from poisoning
  • Cost savings through the use of cheaper base materials

PVT has developed highly effective and economical coatings. These can be applied in large-scale production using tried-and-tested coating processes in our in-line systems. Customer-specific coatings are implemented in coating processes for mass production in our systems.

The continuous further development of optimized coating systems in terms of performance and cost-effectiveness – e.g. precious metal-free coatings – is one of our highest priorities in order to be able to offer you the optimum coating for your application. The flexibility of our in-line systems provides the best starting point to meet current and future requirements.


Coating Samples

Metal-nitrides coated bipolar plates from an international bipolar plate manufacturer.

MKr02230

MKr02233

 

DLC coated bipolar plate from an international bipolar plate manufacturer.

MKr02235