Superiority of Graphene over Polymer Coatings for Prevention of Microbially Induced Corrosion.
Prevention of microbially induced corrosion (MIC) is of great significance in many environmental applications. Here, we report the use of an ultra-thin, graphene skin (Gr) as a superior anti-MIC coating over two commercial polymeric coatings, Parylene-C (PA) and Polyurethane (PU). We find that Nickel (Ni) dissolution in a corrosion cell with Gr-coated Ni is an order of magnitude lower than that of PA and PU coated electrodes. Electrochemical analysis reveals that the Gr coating offers ~10 and ~100 fold improvement in MIC resistance over PU and PA coatings respectively. This finding is remarkable considering that the Gr coating (1-2 nm) is ~25 and ~4000 times thinner than the PA (40-50 nm), and PU coatings (20-80 μm), respectively. Conventional polymer coatings are either non-conformal when deposited or degrade under the action of microbial processes, while the electro-chemically inert graphene coating is both resistant to microbial attack and is extremely conformal and defect-free. Finally, we provide a brief discussion regarding the effectiveness of as-grown vs. transferred graphene films for anti-MIC applications. While the as-grown graphene films are devoid of major defects, wet transfer of graphene is shown to introduce large scale defects that make it less suitable for the current application.
Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York 12180, USA.
Ajay
A
Krishnamurthy
Civil and Environmental Engineering, South Dakota School of Mines and Technology, Rapid City, South Dakota 57701, USA.
Venkataramana
V
Gadhamshetty
Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York 12180, USA.
Rahul
R
Mukherjee
Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York 12180, USA.
Bharath
B
Natarajan
Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York 12180, USA.
Osman
O
Eksik
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 218 Engineering North, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, USA.
S
S
Ali Shojaee
Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Oklahoma State University, 218 Engineering North, Stillwater, Oklahoma 74078, USA.
Don A
DA
Lucca
Shenyang National Lab for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
Wencai
W
Ren
Shenyang National Lab for Materials Science, Institute of Metal Research, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Shenyang 110016, China.
Hui-Ming
HM
Cheng
Mechanical, Aerospace and Nuclear Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York 12180, USA.|Department of Materials Sciences and Engineering, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, 110 8th Street, Troy, New York 12180, USA.
Nikhil
N
Koratkar
D003343:Corrosion; D004563:Electrochemistry; D006108:Graphite / Q000737:chemistry; D011108:Polymers / Q000737:chemistry; D013499:Surface Properties
D011108:Polymers; D006108:Graphite