Electrophoretic Deposition of Graphene on Copper and its Corrosion Behaviour

Abstract

Graphene, a two dimensional hexagonal network of carbon atoms, often known as “the thinnest material” has sparkled the interest of many researchers in the last decades. Endowed with superior physical, mechanical, electrical and optical properties, graphene stands as the “next-gen” material for many uses. Graphene has proven to be an excellent corrosion resistant coating for materials. In our study, we have utilized electrophoretic deposition (EPD) technique as the coating mechanism using copper as the substrate. Initially, we have synthesized graphene through electrochemical exfoliation of Pyrolytic Graphite sheets. The obtained GO (graphene oxide) solution was put up in an EPD set-up with 2 cm2 area copper sheets with varying concentrations of graphene. We employed an anionic surfactant sodium dodecyl sulfate (SDS) for the purpose of a binder. Post coating, various characterizations like surface profiling, atomic force microscopy, FESEM and XRD gave a clear idea about the morphology of graphene nanosheets and graphene coatings along with the topographical analysis of the specimen and crystal structure. Electrochemical corrosion tests affirmed the protective nature of graphene and lead to the conclusion that GO coating can be explored as an anti-corrosive coating on Cu.