Volker Hoffmann from CeraNovis and AL Circle converse on the aluminium market’s shift from cost and quality to sustainability

Volker Hofmann is the Head of Sales and Product Management at CeraNovis GmbH, a Saarbrücken-based specialist in high-performance coatings for foundries and casthouses. A qualified engineer in Foundry and Materials Technology (Dipl.-Ing. FH), Hofmann brings over three decades of experience across Europe’s metallurgical and casting sectors. His career spans leadership roles in the vonRoll Foundry Group, P&S Foundry, and the European Foundry Group, with a particular focus on Tier 1 automotive supply. Before co-founding CeraNovis in 2012 as a spin-off from ItN Nanovation AG, he led the development of nanotechnology-based coating solutions for metal processing industries. Fluent in German, English, and French, Hofmann is recognised for his deep technical expertise and strategic insight into industrial surface technologies.

In this interview, we explore how the German engineer has envisioned steering his production and distribution facility of functional high-performance coatings for industrial applications forward amidst a globally volatile market.

AL Circle: CeraNovis has positioned itself as a high-performance coatings provider for metal processing, especially aluminium melting and casting. How would you describe your core market today, geographically and sector-wise? And where do you see the biggest growth opportunities over the next 3-5 years?

Volker Hofmann: For many years, the aluminium market was dominated by the criteria of cost, quality and output. Now, however, the concept of sustainability is firmly established. This pushes our company rather than restricting us. We provide cost-efficient solutions, but sustainability is another argument to go with us. Our core business is process optimisation in primary smelters.

Here, equipment availability and efficiency are highly cost-relevant. We serve most of the major primary aluminium smelters in the world – except China. We lost our business in Russia due to the conflict. We would like to expand our business in India and are working on partner structures in China.

These are our geographical goals for the next 3 years. In the segment of heat exchangers, protective sealing coatings with good thermal conductivity are meanwhile sold outside Europe. We have ongoing business in India.  This applies to our established nano-ceramic products. However, we are also working on new solutions.

AL Circle: Many of your aluminium solutions, such as Nanocomp® MI and Nanocomp® ST, focus on protecting tools, moulds, and launders in aggressive thermal conditions. Could you walk us through how these ceramic coatings technically outperform traditional release agents or insulation materials, especially in terms of wear, corrosion, and cleaning effort?

Volker Hofmann: Nano-ceramic coatings are based on a robust, inert nano-ceramic binder. The fillers are adapted to the respective applications. The nano-ceramic binder is unique; we purchase the fillers. Very thin layers often achieve the desired effect over a very long period of time. In metal moulds, we replace permanently applied release agents (oils, powders, slurries, etc.) with thin, firmly adhering coatings with precise functions. It is like a ceramic skin on the metal. When we design a product, we pay close attention to expectations, stresses, functions, and the ideal sequence of the overall process.

Each of the many products has its purpose and area of application. Coatings with a sealing effect are relatively new. They prevent chemical attack by melts on the substrate—metal or ceramic. The aggression of aluminium melt on metallic or mineral substrates is a significant wear mechanism that causes high costs. With our ‘sealing coatings’, we counter this aggression not with layer thickness but with special chemical mechanisms. This is new on the market. The service life of refractory materials and steel tools is significantly increased.

Reliable, precise functions, low consumption, and a very long service life are factors that significantly improve cost efficiency and process quality as well as they reduce the environmental impact.

AL Circle: In permanent mould casting, you claim extended mould life up to 3× using ceramic coatings. From a metallurgical standpoint, how do these coatings maintain structural integrity under cyclic thermal shock and exposure to aluminium alloys with varying silicon contents?

Volker Hofmann: Our coatings deliver three times the service life if coating service life is the bottleneck, but this does not apply to all applications. Customers can benefit from this effect in low-pressure die casting of wheels, engine parts, cylinder heads, and frames.

The robustness and inertness of the nano-ceramic binder guarantee high resistance to erosion by the melt. During development, we test the die coatings by heating coated plates to 500°C and then quenching them in water. If the coating doesn’t peel off, this thermal shock test is successfully passed. The nano-coatings are completely inert, and the chemical composition of the melt is not directly relevant in LPDC/GDC. However, there are alloys that are difficult to cast. In such cases, a good coating with stable properties is very welcome.

AL Circle: As die-casting and automotive aluminium applications push for higher efficiency, what feedback are you receiving from Tier 1 or OEM suppliers using your coatings? Are there measurable gains in productivity, defect rate reduction, or tool maintenance cycles?

Volker Hofmann: Of course, there is an economic justification for this product. In wheel casting, a tool change takes 45-80 minutes. If you can save 2 out of 3 tool changes, that is a significant cost advantage. Every forced production stoppage requires 2-4 wheels to be discarded and additional costs to be incurred. That justifies the use of Nanocomp coatings. Some customers operate moulds for over two weeks without servicing them in the tool shop. The reliably stable process with extremely low degradation improves productivity and reduces the scrap rate.

We are currently working on a sealing primer that protects the mould from chemical attack by the melt. We will have to wait and see how that turns out. However, the fact that moulds are already coming into the tool shop less frequently today represents a saving in maintenance costs and an improvement in output and productivity.

AL Circle: CeraNovis also caters to niche but advanced sectors like aerospace, with ESA-funded work on NV14-based conductive ceramics. How does that high-spec R&D feed back into commercial aluminium applications, such as cast house automation, electric heating systems, or hybrid energy furnaces?

Volker Hofmann: A long development period led to the NV14 product, which must provide its reliable function in space. At present, a satellite with our coating is moving to Mercury. It has now become established as the standard solution at the European Space Agency.

Applied temperatures range from -200°C to +400°C. The wide temperature range is the link to foundry, casthouse and powerplant applications.  NV14 is a reflector coating. We are now working on further challenges. We are permanently working in conventional and very new ways to achieve the design goals. The resulting steady growth in corporate intelligence also benefits all other Ceranovis’ fields of activity. Difficult substrates, harsh temperature changes, and reliable performance are also challenges in Ceranovis’ other business areas. Each R&D project makes us better.

AL Circle: Let’s talk sustainability. Reducing release agents, extending tool life, and minimising cleaning downtime all contribute to greener foundries. Do you quantify the environmental or carbon savings your clients achieve by shifting to ceramic-based solutions?

Volker Hofmann: Release agents such as canola oil or slurry made from mineral powder or graphite are inexpensive to purchase. Large volumes are affordable in terms of procurement costs. However, only small quantities of the release agents used are disposed of in a controlled manner. The oil burns or evaporates. Dust contaminates the equipment and the environment. This poses a high health risk and a high fire risk. CO2 emissions increase. Even if this seems insignificant in comparison to the total amount, it still contributes unnecessarily.

Ceranovis’ nano-ceramic products have no carbon content. A few kilograms of Nanocomp coating replace a ton of release agent. No process manager will return to oil and graphite once their plant has run cleanly with Nanocomp. Cleanliness also reduces costs.

The cleanliness of semi-finished products (ingots) has become a quality criterion. Contamination from graphite and oil condensates is no longer acceptable. Since many manufacturers now use Nanocomp, this has become the quality standard.

AL Circle: Some of your coatings, like LT1, ECO50 and ECO70, are designed to operate in chemically aggressive and high-temperature environments. Could these have wider applicability in aluminium recycling, especially for molten salt systems or low-grade scrap melting, where corrosion is a major challenge?

Volker Hofmann: These coatings protect against severe acid attack and corrosion. Some of them offer non-stick properties. They are mostly used in flue gas systems in power plants. Unfortunately, their thermal resistance is not designed for molten salt systems or low-grade scrap melting. The limit is 600°C.

Nanocomp ST70 offers special protection above 600°C. It is designed for linings in molten aluminium logistics. In the case of particularly aggressive melts, the launder material coated with ST70 has a 3 to 4 times longer service life.

We offer a range of coatings for flue gas ducting and other industrial applications. Here too, the focus is on ensuring reliable processes over an extended period. We recommend discussing your specific project with a Ceranovis expert.

AL Circle: What barriers still exist in the aluminium market for broader adoption of nano-ceramic coatings — price sensitivity, process inertia, lack of awareness? How are you working to overcome them, especially in emerging economies where aluminium casting is growing rapidly?

Volker Hofmann: Nano-ceramic coatings are rarely the cheapest in terms of material price per kg. However, when considering the positive developments in the process and the impact on productivity, quality and maintenance, they are usually the most cost-effective solution. This is not always fully taken into account, which then presents a barrier. We also have to assume a certain level of process excellence on the part of the user so that the savings potential can be exploited. However, this is usually the case.

In many cases, we don’t just replace a product. The process has changed, which ultimately leads to significant savings. Some managers lack the courage to do this.

In rare cases, internal company regulations prevent the introduction of our products. These are sometimes irrevocable or are changed by a joint process and risk assessment.

We are currently experiencing a shift in thinking. Because Ceranovis is focused on process efficiency and our products are considered sustainable and environmentally friendly, more barriers are disappearing than new ones are emerging.

AL Circle: The business is both a technology developer and manufacturer. How do you ensure scalability, supply chain resilience, and quality control as you serve global clients in sectors with very different technical and operational needs?

Volker Hofmann: The work we do for the European Space Agency has had a major influence here. The demands placed on process control and reliability are very high. Because it is not possible to work with different levels of quality, our high standards apply to all areas of business.

We are ISO900:2015 certified and use many quality procedures from the automotive industry.

Due to the uniqueness of our products, we are aware of our responsibility towards our customers, who rely on them and plan their goals based on the reliability and performance of our products. We have a good management system and take a preventive approach to potential problems.

AL Circle: Finally, looking forward: What’s next for the company in the aluminium segment? Are you exploring self-healing coatings, smart diagnostics, or AI-based wear prediction as part of your next-generation solutions?

Volker Hofmann: These are very interesting, fancy approaches. There are less spectacular but significant problems that, unfortunately, have not yet been solved. We will first take care of that.

We have developed brilliant products for horizontal continuous billet casting. Now, let’s try to transfer this progress to strip sheet casting.

We are working on transferring the successes achieved in aluminium to copper production. This requires committed partners to master this task.

In many production processes, the switch from mass consumption of release agents to sustainable, environmentally friendly coatings has not yet taken place. In some cases, we still need to develop solutions so that our customers can produce sustainably, eco-friendly and cost-effectively in the future. We have some tasks in mind and are open to further ones.

As was evident at the 29th International Conference on Non-ferrous Metals, India is significantly expanding its capacity in the areas of aluminium, copper and zinc. We will support this development as best we can.