Complete long-term corrosion protection with chemical vapor deposited graphene

TL;DR

This study introduces a novel hybrid coating with CVD graphene that offers long-term corrosion protection for aluminum alloys, surpassing traditional polymer coatings in durability.

Contribution

It presents the first long-term (120 days) corrosion protection using CVD graphene-based hybrid coatings, demonstrating a practical approach for durable anticorrosive surfaces.

Findings

Graphene hybrid coating protects aluminum for 120 days in seawater.

Polymer-only coating fails after 30 days.

CVD graphene enhances long-term corrosion resistance.

Abstract

Despite the numerous reports on the topic, examples of chemical vapor deposited (CVD) graphene-based anticorrosive coatings able to provide long-term protection (i.e., several months) of metals are still unavailable. Here, we finally present a polymer-graphene hybrid coating, comprising two single layers of CVD graphene sandwiched by three layers of polyvinyl butyral, that provides complete corrosion protection to commercial aluminum alloys even after 120 days of exposure to simulated seawater. The essential role played by graphene in the hybrid coating is evident when we compare the results from a polymer-only coating of the same thickness, which fails in protecting the metal after barely 30 days. With the emergence of commercially available large-area CVD graphene, our work demonstrates a straightforward approach towards high-performance anticorrosive coatings, which can be extended to other two-dimensional materials and polymers, for long-term protection of various relevant metals and alloys.