Physical vapour deposition coatings for demanding applications in the new hydrogen economy

Sustainable transport solutions are increasing the demand for hydrogen fuelled power sources. Surface engineering has a key role to play in enabling increased function while simultaneously reducing materials, manufacturing and through-life ownership costs of related devices for hydrogen production, purification, storage and conversion into usable power. Size, weight and thermal management issues mean that power density in transport applications, such as fuel cells and auxiliary power units, remains a primary consideration. Magnetron sputtering based PVD coatings are applied to the surfaces of components critical to the performance and economics of solid oxide and polymer based fuel cells, hydrogen production (electrolysers and direct water splitting) and catalysis (catalysts and support layers), from metallic bipolar plates to individual, size selected, nano-particles. Topical examples are described, drawing on the development of coatings, for example to provide improved corrosion resistance while minimising interfacial contact resistance in electrochemical devices.