PVD coatings: a clean and reliable coating technology.
Plasma Vapour Deposition (PVD) technologies consist of the evaporation of a material and its deposition as a thin film over an object (known as substrate). This process allows to prepare metal coatings, but also ceramics such as nitrides, oxides, or carbides. All PVD processes are performed in vacuum, and layers between tens of nanometers to tens of microns can be tipically prepared.
Although the evaporation of the material can be performed in several ways, in Nano4Energy the most common employed method is magnetron sputtering. We relay in the HiPIMS power sources we develop to obtain dense, smooth, and high quality coatings.
The technology behind magnetron sputtering does not require the substrate to be metallic nor conductive, and therefore materials such as glass, ceramics, and plastics can be coated. This fact, in addition to the low temperature of the coating processes (below 100ºC), increases the variety of applications of this technology.
When compared to its technological competitors (such as wet chemical surface treatments), PVD represents a clean alternative, without requiring hazardous compounds, nor generating water pollutants or chemical waste.
Our applications
Fuel cells & Electrolyzers
The deposition of high-quality coatings to protect stainless steel from corrosion and achieve high conductivity is critical to maximize the potential in hydrogen applications. Nano4Energy has developed coatings in order to suit these requirements in diverse technologies such as PEMFC, SOFC, PEMWE, and AEMWE.
Tools & Microtools
Hard and tough coatings are needed to withstand the harsh conditions and high speed that take place during machining. Nano4Energy focused in the development of ultra-smooth, composition controlled and tailor-made architectural designed coatings to match these needs and offer nanostructured coatings with improved toughness, very dense morphology and higher thermal stability.
Optical antiscratch
Most smart devices are covered with glass specifically engineered to protect against drops and other damage, although they are still prone to scratches produced from daily use. N4E together with Gencoa have developed a new transparent coating G-DLC based on HiPIMS V+ technology that is highly resistant to scratches.
