Awarded – Bachelor's thesis is honoured with DGO Young Talent Award
For 30 years, the German Society for Electroplating and Surface Technology has been awarding prizes for outstanding work in the field of surface technology. This is also the case in 2021, albeit without the usual ceremonial setting. This year, Luisa Schottstedt, a student on the Medical Engineering course at Chemnitz University of Technology, receives the DGO Young Scientist Award for her bachelor's thesis on electrodeposited iron base layers in medical technology.
The work entitled „ Qualification of electrodeposited iron base layers as hard chrome substitutes in medical technology " was completed in December 2020 at the Chair of Materials and Surface Engineering with the grade very good. Based on a BMWi-funded project, research work shows that it is sensible and technically feasible to develop and qualify alternative layers and alloys from REACH-compliant electrolytes. The aim of the award-winning work was to develop an electroplated layer deposition from the FeCrNi system that largely covers the broad spectrum of properties of hard chromium layers with the help of a REACH-compliant electrolyte system modelled on high-alloy steels.
As a student in the degree programme Medical Engineering Luisa Schottstedt has focused her work on applications in medical technology. There, many fields of application are typically served with hard-chrome plated materials. For this purpose, FeCrNi layers were electrochemically deposited from a chromium(lll) glycine electrolyte and special findings were obtained from the influence of the resulting layer properties through the use of direct and pulse current, different electrolyte compositions, as well as specifically influenced complex formation in the electrolyte. Thus, it has been possible to produce thick FeCrNi layers (> 10 µm) from REACH-compliant chromium(lll)-glycine electrolytes by means of direct and pulse current, which have comparable properties to an FeCrNi steel. The coatings produced are not yet wear-resistant enough to achieve the quality of hard chrome. However, the layer hardnesses exceed the values of CrNi steels without heat treatment, which can be considered a great success. Orientating tests on abrasion wear resistance show equivalent results with steels of this composition. The knowledge gained in the process represents a significant expansion of previous knowledge about the processes of electrodeposition from chromium(lll)-based electrolytes.
The supervising team of the Chair of Materials and Surface Engineering is pleased with the worthy young scientist about the award of the DGO Young Scientist Prize and wishes Luisa Schottstedt every success in her Master's studies.
Photo: In front of the Institute's own "Philosopher's Stone" Prof. Lampke presents the DGO Young Investigator Award 2021 to Luisa Schottstedt.
2.12.2021 – Students of the professorship ( dominik.hoehlich@mb… )
