Dr. Öte is Head and Dr. Etschel Developer in the Surface Technologies division of Schaeffler Technologies AG & Co. KG, Interview: Robert Pitere
Dr. Öte, Dr. Etschel, congratulations on winning the Leipzig Electroplating Prize. You and your team have developed a coating for electrolysers. To what extent is your innovation helping to ensure that electrolysers are used to generate green energy?
Dr. Etschel: The Enertect CT+ galvanic coating protects the bipolar plate of the electrolyser from corrosion and makes it conductive. The good scalability of the process is also important. You can coat many square meters - that makes the technology economical.
Dr. Öte: The process is also economical because the coating is free of precious metals. However, the coating is electrochemically very stable and has a significantly lower electrical contact resistance compared to titanium. At the same time, it is sustainable to produce and sustainable to use. We firmly believe that the coating will help to establish this technology. For us, the coatings are enablers of this technology.
"Enertect CT+ will contribute to the establishment of the electrolyser!"
You expect 150 GWh of green hydrogen to be produced by 2030. To what extent would Schaeffler like to be involved in this?
Dr. Öte: Motion Technology Company Schaeffler is already producing PEM electrolysers in series - in small formats. We have a clear focus on hydrogen technology. With the development and industrialization of bipolar plates for electrolyzers and fuel cells, Schaeffler wants to make an important contribution to achieving the goals of the Paris Agreement.
Are you being given a free hand in development?
Dr. Öte: Sustainability is firmly anchored in our DNA as an integral part of our corporate strategy. Product development is considered the key to sustainable technological change, which is why Schaeffler, as a forward-looking company, invests heavily in research and development. Schaeffler therefore enables its employees to start corresponding projects. This provides very good conditions for our work in the area of surface technology. Galvanic or chemical coatings are a building block here, but we also coat using PVD, thermal spraying or paint.
How many employees work in these areas?
Dr. Etschel: Around 50 employees work in the Surface Technology division at the company headquarters in Herzogenaurach. Worldwide, there are many more - Schaeffler operates more than 50 in-house coating lines in eleven different countries.
Coating has many advantages. Does this also have an effect on the service life of the electrolyzers?
Dr. Etschel: What makes the coating special is its corrosion protection and conductivity. These are two properties that are normally difficult to combine. Our in-situ tests are underway to determine influences on the service life. So far, we have not noticed any form of degradation and are therefore very optimistic.
Dr. Öte: 10 years is roughly what is required for electrolyzers. In ex-situ tests, i.e. accelerated stress tests, we tested the coating for up to 1500 hours. The coating system was chemically stable and showed no corrosion. It is a very high-performance coating. The required service life of electrolyzers can be up to 80,000 hours. However, 1500 hours of ex-situ measurements cannot be compared 1:1 with the operating conditions. We are currently working on being able to link the two in the future. However, we are confident that we will be able to go into series production with our Enertect CT+ surface coating in the future.
INFO
Leipzig Electroplating Award 2024
In addition to Dr. Sebastian Etschel (left) and Dr. Mehmet Öte (right), the development team for the bipolar plate coating for electrolysers consists of R&D Manager Coating Technology Dr. Stöcker, Team Leader Chemical Coating Bertram Haag, Jan Schinzel from the Chemical Coatings team and Christopher Kalb. Dr. Etschel completed his doctorate in materials science in Erlangen. Dr. Öte studied and completed his doctorate in surface technology in Aachen. He started at Schaeffler in 2019.
Schaeffler is a leading supplier of functional surfaces and coatings for automotive and industrial components and systems. The company sees the basis of its successful coating solution in its R&D and technology expertise in coating materials and processes. The Schaeffler Coating Toolbox offers a wide range of coatings for component and system surfaces that are tailored to customer requirements.
