This project is very important for the industry and UNE’s work in the project will hep creating new standards from some results of NICKEFFECT that will ease the market uptake of these results and their impact beyond the duration of the project
Welcome to
NICKEFFECT
Boosting the research and development of new solutions
for materials replacing the Platinum Group Metals (PGM)
NICKEFFECT in a Nutshell
NICKEFFECT, a new project co-funded by the European Commission’s Horizon Europe programme, aims to develop novel ferromagnetic Ni-based coating materials to replace the scarce and costly Platinum and ensure high efficiency in key applications.
Running from June 2022 until June 2026, the NICKEFFECT project is led by a consortium that is a multidisciplinary team comprised of 12 partners from 7 different EU and HEU-associated countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Greece, Ireland, Spain, and the United Kingdom). It covers stakeholders of the whole project value chain: scientific and technology developers, technology providers, end-users, as well as transversal partners.
Project Goals and Objectives
Synthesise ferromagnetic coating materials to replace Platinum as raw material;
Develop measures to ensure that the materials are affordable, durable and with increased corrosion resistance for the different working environments;
Successfully upscale production process in pilot plant to coat real scale components;
Ensure a safe and sustainable by-design approach and define pathways for the recovery, recyclability, purification and re-use of materials at the end of the products life;
Develop a decision support tool to facilitate the adoption of the safe and sustainable criteria when designing and producing metallic coatings free of PGMs;
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Latest News
Moving clean energy from the lab to the factory floor is one of the biggest hurdles in the green hydrogen transition. Within the framework of the EU-funded NICKEFFECT project, CIDETEC Surface Engineering—in collaboration with Elsyca and the Autonomous University of Barcelona—has achieved a major milestone for Use Case 1 by successfully scaling up the production of next-generation, CRM-free electrodes to an industrially relevant pilot line. By replicating high lab efficiencies at a larger scale and securing a patent for the innovation, this breakthrough bypasses critical raw material dependencies and paves the way for highly efficient, affordable, and commercially viable green hydrogen production.
To bridge the gap between theory and practice, the NICKEFFECT project applied this iterative Active Learning framework directly to the search for sustainable catalyst materials. By combining Matgenix’s predictive machine learning algorithms with the practical laboratory expertise of the project partners, the team could bypass the slow, traditional "one variable at a time" testing method. Instead of spending months or years blindly tweaking manufacturing settings, the AI systematically mapped out the most promising combinations of material compositions and processing conditions. This streamlined approach was put to the test in the project's first major case study: optimizing a high-performing, cost-effective alternative to scarce precious metals for green hydrogen production.
In large-scale European research initiatives, collaboration is often measured in work packages, milestones, and deliverables. But the true engine of innovation is the exchange of people and ideas. The NICKEFFECT project thrives on this philosophy, proving that cross-border mobility does not just advance materials science—it shapes the next generation of scientific leaders.
Testimonials
"Very important for the industry"
Esther Bermejo Núñez
Project Manager, Gas, Chemicals and Textiles
"Generate a deep impact"
NICKEFFECT’s results will generate a deep impact, during and beyond the project execution. I expect novel coatings and models to allow inferring new insights which will constitute the basis for getting improvements in both the materials’ design and the process development.
Danijel Pavlica
Project Manager
"New PMG type of catalysts"
Advent mission is to advance the development and manufacturing of advanced materials, components, and next-generation fuel cell technology to unlock the hydrogen economy. In NICKEFFECT we expect to demonstrate new PMG type of catalysts for HT-PEM and electrolyzers of higher performance and stability.
Christos Chochos
Director of research at Advent
"Reduce cost stack and improve sustainability"
NICKEFFECT project will reduce cost stack and gain autonomy regarding the sources of critical materials such as Pt located mainly in Russia and South-Africa. Will also improve the sustainability by providing solution for the end of life before the product is placed on the market and by selecting materials according to a interoperable sustainability assessments.
Joséphine Steck
Research engineer at CEA
"Real game changer towards faster innovation"
The combination of high-level experiments and computer simulations will be a key success factor of NICKEFFECT. This is a real game changer towards faster innovation, research and development of more sustainable materials and applications.
Gian-Marco Rignanese
Chief Innovation Officer at Matgenix
"Strongly affect the industry"
NICKEFFECT will strongly affect the industry by developing and validating at least 3 new materials, together with the coating methodologies (including process modelling) and decision support tools for materials selection (integrating safe and sustainable by design (SSbD) criteria and materials modelling).
Elias Koumoulos
CEO at IRES