title: Graphene as a long-term metal oxidation barrier: worse than nothing.
abstract: Anticorrosion and antioxidation surface treatments such as paint or anodization are a foundational component in nearly all industries. Graphene, a single-atom-thick sheet of carbon with impressive impermeability to gases, seems to hold promise as an effective anticorrosion barrier, and recent work supports this hope. We perform a complete study of the short- and long-term performance of graphene coatings for Cu and Si substrates. Our work reveals that although graphene indeed offers effective short-term oxidation protection, over long time scales it promotes more extensive wet corrosion than that seen for an initially bare, unprotected Cu surface. This surprising result has important implications for future scientific studies and industrial applications. In addition to informing any future work on graphene as a protective coating, the results presented here have implications for graphene's performance in a wide range of applications.
authors.affiliation: Department of Physics, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, California 94720, USA.
authors.forename: Maria
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Schriver
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Regan
authors.forename: Will J
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Gannett
authors.forename: Anna M
authors.initials: AM
authors.lastname: Zaniewski
authors.forename: Michael F
authors.initials: MF
authors.lastname: Crommie
authors.forename: Alex
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Zettl
mesh_terms: D000327:Adsorption; D003300:Copper / Q000737:chemistry*; D003343:Corrosion; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry*; D008422:Materials Testing; D049329:Nanostructures / Q000737:chemistry* / Q000648:ultrastructure*; D010084:Oxidation-Reduction; D010100:Oxygen / Q000737:chemistry*; D010316:Particle Size; D012825:Silicon / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties
chemical_list: D006108:Graphite; D003300:Copper; D010100:Oxygen; D012825:Silicon