Graphene, the wonder material that keeps on giving, has now been found to be the thinnest anti-corrosion coating known to man. Researchers at Vanderbilt University, Nashville say that graphene is as effective as conventional anti-corrosion coatings, but five times thinner. Unlike any other anti-corrosion coating, a coating of graphene is transparent.

Metallic corrosion is serious business. According to a 2002 study by the US Federal Highway Administration, the total cost of corrosion across the entirety of the country was $276 billion, some 3.2% GDP; around the same amount that the US spends on its military. For the most part, corrosion prevention generally involves regular coatings of paint — bridges are the most prominent example — and processes such as anodization, where a piece of metal is covered in a protective layer of oxide.

Funnily enough, despite its status as the thinnest and lightest structure known to man, these anti-corrosive coats of graphene could even be applied by rubbing a piece of graphite over a surface. The Vanderbilt study notes that “nickel surfaces coated with four layers of mechanically transferred graphene corrode 4 times slower than bare nickel” — and in this case, “mechanically transferred” involves rubbing with a piece of graphite, or perhaps peeling off a single layer of graphene with a piece of sticky tape, and then applying that to a metallic surface. The next time painters scale the Golden Gate Bridge they might be carrying a lump of graphite instead of a paint bucket.

As far as electronics and other high-tech applications are concerned, though, we are much more interested in the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) of graphene. The Vanderbilt researchers used CVD to grow a one-atom-thick layer of graphene on a piece of copper, which then corroded seven times slower than normal. This same process could be used on the copper interconnects in computer chips, implantable medical devices, high-tech equipment (aerospace, super cars, and so on), or designer goods, where graphene’s negligible size and weight and transparency would be highly desirable.

Read more at ScienceDaily, or find out more about graphene

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