A research study by Dhiraj Prasai and his colleagues has corroborated that graphene coating is the thinnest known coating in the world for preventing corrosion.
The research findings have been reported in ACS Nano. In the study, the researchers reported that corrosion of metals is a major global problem and extensive research is underway to discover new techniques for slowing or preventing it. Corrosion occurs when a metal surface contacts with water, air or other substances.
One of the recognized methods of preventing corrosion is coating metal surfaces with materials that protect them. However, these materials have their own limitations. In this study, the researchers assessed graphene as a new coating material. The one-atom-thick material is recognized as the world’s thinnest and strongest material. An ounce of this miracle material can cover 28 football fields.
The researchers discovered that graphene offers better protection against corrosion when grown directly on nickel or copper or applied onto other metals. Corrosion rate of copper coated by a single layer of chemical vapor deposition (CVD)-grown graphene was seven folds slower than that of bare copper, while nickel coated by multiple layers of CVD-grown graphene corroded 20 folds slower when compared to bare nickel.
Moreover, a single graphene layer offers the same corrosion protection as traditional organic coatings that have more than five-fold thickness. According to the researchers, graphene coatings can be used as corrosion-preventing coatings in applications that demand a thin coating such as microelectronic components like implantable devices, aircraft components and interconnects.
Source: http://www.acs.org