This is a collaborative project which will integrate nano-carbon materials with electrophoretic deposition (EPD) to create a truly unique coatings technology which meets today’s critical challenges of the coatings industry. The new EPD technology will use aqueous colloidal electrolytes which are compliant with stringent REACH regulations and eliminate the use of toxic solvents and materials. Additionally, the new technology will enable the uniform and controlled coating of graphene nano-carbons on complex 3D and internal shapes, by means of digital modelling and simulation, which is currently impossible to achieve by other methods. The obtained nano-carbon coatings will be studied for their anti-corrosion properties, and in future may find further applications as thermal and conductive coatings, as well as energy storage components. The project will demonstrate the new technology in both laboratory and industrial environment.

This is a collaborative project between two industrial partners, DZP Technologies Ltd and LVH Coatings Ltd, and one academic partner, the University of Warwick. The project will investigate the feasibility of using electrophoretic deposition to manufacture electrochemical energy storage of improved performance and new form factors. Additionally, our technology will make use of new, graphene-related materials which have the potential to produce a transformational step change in the performance of electro-chemical power devices. In this way, the project is involved with innovation in both manufacturing technology, and materials development. The new and improved power devices enabled by our technology can be used across different power sectors, including the national grid, distributed power networks and low-carbon vehicles, in addition to the constantly evolving consumer electronics sector. Further to energy storage applications, EPD manufacturing itself can produce novel 2D material coatings with anti-corrosion and self-lubricating properties for the automotive, aerospace, and advanced surface engineering sectors.

We are developing a new process to deposit thin metal coating on to conducting plastic surfaces with potentially very significant savings in terms of energy use and waste production. If this can be achieved whilst retaining even metallic thin films there are numerous industrial applications, particularly in the automotive industry, which would benefit.