NOVELTY - The article such as bipolar plate (9) comprises a base or plate formed of an electrically conductive material, a coating applied to the base or plate to cover a part of an external surface of the base or plate, where the coating includes a conductive carbon material layer and/or a noble metal layer at its external face, and an intermediate layer of electrically conductive materials intermediating the external face and the base. The intermediate layer is formed of nitride and/or carbide material. The coating applied to the nitride and/or carbide layer includes a metal or metal alloy layer.    USE - The article is useful as a bipolar plate for a fuel cell (claimed), catalysts for electrolyzers, battery electrodes and electrodes for electroplating devices.    ADVANTAGE - The article includes the coating that has electrical conductivity and other characteristics to allow the commercial implementation of the article and allow the article to be resistant to an adverse effects of a corrosive medium, ensures the continued operation of the plate by maintaining a high level of conductivity over time and reducing the electrical resistance inherent at the surface of the plate to a value below that of the uncoated material, improves the overall power density capability of a device for operation at a desired voltage or current and has reduced costs by reducing its thickness while maintaining the performance levels, and can be rapidly manufactured by increasing the deposition rates of the material used to form the coating.    DETAILED DESCRIPTION - The article such as bipolar plate (9) comprises a base or plate formed of an electrically conductive material, a coating applied to the base or plate to cover a part of an external surface of the base or plate, where the coating includes a conductive carbon material layer and/or a noble metal layer at it's external face, and an intermediate layer of electrically conductive materials intermediating the external face and the base or plate. The intermediate layer is formed of nitride and/or carbide material. The nitride and/or carbide layer provides adhesion for the coating to the base or plate and/or a barrier layer for the base material and/or corrosion protection for the base material. The coating to the nitride and/or carbide layer includes a metal or metal alloy layer. The coating to the nitride and/or carbide and/or metal and/or metal alloy layer includes a metal oxide layer. A transition between the carbon material layer and the intermediate layer is graded. The carbon material layer is applied on the metal or metal alloy layer. A part of the coating is graded on a basis of density and/or a sp2/sp3 carbon bond ratio in the carbon material layer. The article further comprises an identifiable interface formed between the intermediate layer and the carbon material in the coating, and a metallic interlayer arranged on top of the intermediate layer. The carbon material layer is of a graphitic sp2 form and/or adjacent to the external surface of the coating. Hardness and/or elastic modulus of the coating is graded from a relatively soft and formable form at and/or adjacent to the base or plate to a relatively harder and less formable form towards the external surface of the coating. The noble metal layer is provided with the carbon material to form the external face of the coating. The plate is formed of a metal or metal alloy. The base or plate onto which the coating is to be applied and/or any coating sub layer is doped with a metal atom, is provided with a layer. The coating includes alternating non-hydrogenated amorphous carbon and mixed carbon metal layers and/or carbon-compound layers. The intermediate layer has an interfacial contact resistance (ICR) of less than 15 m Omega cm2. The carbon layer has an ICR of less than 15 m Omega cm2. The mixed carbon-metal layers have a metallic content of 0.1-10 atm.%. A surface of the coating has a contact angle of 30-50 degrees against water. The plate is formed of a metal or metallic alloy. The coating has a nano-layered structure. The nanolayered structure consists of layers with individual thickness of 2-100 nm. The nanolayers are graded from a metal content of 0 to greater than 10 atm.%. The external surface of the coating has a surface area exceeding more than 30 times that of an apparent or projected area of the coating. An INDEPENDENT CLAIM is included for a method for forming a coating on an article.    DESCRIPTION OF DRAWING(S) - The figure shows a schematic plan view of an apparatus to form a coating.    Vacuum chamber (2)    Rotary carrier (4)    Central axis (6)    Magnetrons (8, 10, 12, 14)    Bipolar plate. (9)