Interview

You are Professor of Corrosion Technology and Electrochemistry at Delft University of Technology’s Department of Materials Science and Engineering as well as Scientific Director of the 4TU.Centre High-Tech Materials. Going back to the start of your career, how did you decide to focus on corrosion technology in your research?
When I was younger, I loved to see aircraft flying in the sky. The fact that aircraft could stay up in the air was fascinating to me and I always wanted to know why. Looking back but also forward, I guess that is the intrinsic motivation I have in me: the things, including my research, is driven by curiosity. Therefore, my first step was to study aerospace engineering. Later in my studies, I wrote my thesis on the development of a new type of material at that time, GLARE, which is a “GLAss-REinforced”-fibre metal laminate. One of the questions that came up was: okay, what if we have this material applied as plain sheet? From a structural application point of view, it will work fine. However, an aircraft has an aerodynamic shape. Therefore, materials have to be rounded, bent and shaped - and then some cracks would occur within the polymers and anodization layers, which are part of the protective coating scheme. This would dramatically deteriorate the corrosion performance of these materials. So, it was clear that measures needed to be taken to prevent this and that’s how I rolled into the corrosion science and engineering research field: starting with the original question on how aircraft stay up in the air, I became more and more excited about materials science and corrosion technology. Clearly, I do this with great enthusiasm, to tackle corrosion challenges at all scales and for applications of all sorts to the benefit of industry and society!

Recently you have been awarded the European Corrosion Medal 2022 for your work on corrosion. Where does your motivation come from to be so strongly involved in the European Federation of Corrosion (EFC) for years?
I have always been a team player, as I strongly believe in the strength of a community, where everyone involved chips in his/her expertise, spirit, time and effort to create synergy beyond the sum of individual contributions. The international research community that I am part of has given me a lot in terms of scientific and technological results, inspiration and energy and I wanted to give something back to this constellation of international academia, industries and research institutes, and that is what I have done through the EFC. After finalizing my joyful terms as Scientific Chair and President of EFC, I felt it was again time for others to bring their best and I have looked around for a next step to serve the research community I am embedded in. Therefore, I have taken on the challenge to become the Scientific Director of the 4TU.High-Tech Materials in The Netherlands. I try to give something back to the broader materials science community, connecting the different disciplines of materials science and engineering students and academic staff across the various technical universities in The Netherlands. I think it is important to be an expert on the one hand, but also to be able to communicate with other research disciplines. By connecting the positions in various national and international organizations, I try to achieve this.

2022, you and your team were able to observe local corrosion initiation live at the nano- and microscale using in situ transmission electron microscopy – what a memorable moment! What other milestones would you wish for your team and yourself in the medium and long term?
I think it was one of those moments in your career when you stand on top of your office desk in ecstasy cheering 'This is really the first time anyone has seen anything like this in the field of corrosion science'. Nevertheless, it was not my own achievement in itself. It was really a team effort. We persisted for many years in this endeavor. Literally for years, we came out of the labs empty-handed before we achieved such a result. Then we got the hang of it and so we cracked it in the end.
There are surely many research directions I still want to focus on, including accurately measuring and monitoring corrosion and using that data for reliable corrosion service life prediction. As a corrosion community, it is important to serve our society and industry. If we really understand the fundamentals of degradation processes and can predict the service life of structures and applications, we can also take the appropriate measures to achieve even longer service lifetime. As in the case of the VIPCOAT project, we focus on the development of experimental and modelling approaches to effectively predict the corrosion inhibition efficiency of replacing technologies for the use of toxic hexavalent chromium in protective organic coatings. Also here, this cannot be done by a one-man show, this requires multidisciplinary efforts.

You are a member of the EU-funded VIPCOAT project. How important are Open Innovation Projects for the scientific progress of materials surface protection technology?
This development is crucial. We should all work together along the entire value chain. This also means that we need to be able to network, speak the same language and drive this technology development all of us together. By 'all of us together' I refer to all stakeholders including academia, industry, research institutes, authorization bodies, etc. Open innovation platforms are, in my opinion, the only right way to work with all stakeholders on an equal footing. Technology development teams will not be able to achieve innovation and market introduction by themselves. A broad approach is needed that also involves ethical research groups and regulation bodies. It is not trivial to introduce new technologies with a solid risk assessment. The right time to implement new technologies not only depends on technological development, but also on economic and social acceptance. So, all in all, we must not only be content with the technically feasible solutions, but include the entire value chain in an open innovation platform.

Which strategical advice could you identify for the further steps?
From the point of view of a government or an authorization body, I think it is important that we define the timing of the commercial introduction of new technologies in the market in addition to the overall technological development. It is a gradual, complex and interactive process between academia, R&D groups at research institutes, base suppliers, manufacturing and production industry, and end users. For a safe and gradual introduction of new technologies, the time frame and also the areas where they can be implemented is of pivotal importance. I think this is where the authorization bodies come in, and this also goes hand in hand with social acceptance and ethical issues: when is a technology ready for use? When do we have enough confidence in a new technology so that all of us within a value chain, but also society, have enough confidence in the new technology to take those steps? Especially when there is no proven history of success this is not a trivial process. Unexpected events, occurrences and perhaps failures may be luring at the horizon. How can we, to the best of our knowledge, conduct a joint risk assessment for such market introduction? At this point, it is not just universities or industry that need to be sensitized to the importance, but a broader holistic approach is needed.
Hence, let us work together, at all levels and disciplines. Alone, we can only take incremental steps to solving the many growing grand challenges we will face as a society in the coming decades. This is not just about replacing hexavalent chromium, but a much more comprehensive need and approach. For example, it is also about the smart use of critical materials and finding alternative solutions to limit their primary use working our way towards a circular economy, the energy transition and so forth. Let us not forget the younger generation in our education and collaboration efforts: it is mainly the upcoming generations that will face the consequences of today’s efforts to face the grand challenges head-on: the time to act is now! Let us all use our collective power to make larger strides rather than just small steps. Above all, partnerships and collaborations are fun. Even if the duration of a project such as VIPCOAT seems short, it will serve as a starting point for continuation of existing and emerging collaborations. Strategic partnerships between participants now established shall be a door opener further down the line across all involved and beyond: the future is now!



Interview & Photo: Hereon/ Lisa Depenbrock