The Company
Hardide plc listed on the London Stock Exchange's Alternative Investment Market (AIM) in April 2005. This followed the formation of Hardide Coatings Limited in 2000 to develop and commercialise the Hardide coating technology. In 2003, the company headquarters and coatings facility in Bicester, Oxfordshire was established and our first international coatings plant opened in Houston, Texas, USA in September 2006.  Hardide plc is incorporated in England and Wales.  England is the main country of operation.

The Technology
Hardide combines hardness, toughness, low friction and chemical resistance. The coating is a homogeneous, binder-free tungsten carbide produced by a low temperature chemical vapour deposition (CVD) process. Components are heated in a furnace to between 500°C and 600°C, depending on the substrate and application; once at temperature, a controlled mixture of gases is pumped into the chamber where a series of chemical reactions takes place. The tungsten carbides crystallises on the surface of the components to produce a smooth, homogeneous layer of binder-free tungsten carbide coating; this nano-structured pore-free material uniquely combines abrasion, erosion, friction and chemical resistant properties.
The CVD process creates a flexible coating which can coat complex shapes or internal surfaces that are impossible by cemented carbides such as HVOF spray or PVD coating technologies. Hardide can be applied to substrates including Steel, Stainless Steel, Monel, Inconel, Copper, Stellite and other alloys with an accurately controlled coating thickness ranging from 5 to 100 microns.