Oxidation Resistance of Graphene-Coated Cu and Cu/Ni Alloy

Abstract

The ability to protect refined metals from reactive environments is vital to many industrial and academic applications. Current solutions, however, typically introduce several negative effects, including increased thickness and changes in the metal physical properties. In this paper, we demonstrate for the first time the ability of graphene films grown by chemical vapor deposition to protect the surface of the metallic growth substrates of Cu and Cu/Ni alloy from air oxidation. In particular, graphene prevents the formation of any oxide on the protected metal surfaces, thus allowing pure metal surfaces only one atom away from reactive environments. SEM, Raman spectroscopy, and XPS studies show that the metal surface is well protected from oxidation even after heating at 200 °C in air for up to 4 h. Our work further shows that graphene provides effective resistance against hydrogen peroxide. This protection method offers significant advantages and can be used on any metal that catalyzes graphene growth.

Atomically Thin Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanofilm for Cu Protection: The Importance of Film Perfection

“…[2] Mixed results, however, have been reported. [3][4][5][6][7] Good shortterm anti-corrosion performance was observed, [3][4][5] but over time, accelerated Cu oxidation and corrosion in air were found in the presence of graphene compared to the bare Cu substrate. [8,9] This acceleration is likely due to the high conductivity that assists electron transfer in the two-component galvanic cell between Cu and graphene, facilitating oxygen reduction and Cu oxidation around the defects in the long run.…”

Structure of graphene and its disorders: a review

“…Despite such outstanding properties, the potential applications of atom-thick graphene are limited, so it needs to be incorporated with other materials or assembled into nanopapers [176–178], functional thin films [179], fibers [180,181] and coatings [30,182] for meeting various demands in industry. Some properties of graphene might be enhanced when completing the assembling processes, but large disorder is introduced to the graphene crystal as well.…”

Graphene-Passivated Nickel as an Oxidation-Resistant Electrode for Spintronics

“…Graphene has already been identified as a promising material for currentperpendicular-to-plane (CPP) spintronics devices, but previous studies relied on graphene exfoliation 6,7 or transfer 8 and hence could not utilize the gas impermeability of the graphene layers. 9,10 We establish here a process technology for the direct integration of graphene in to spintronics devices, that fully makes use of this key advantage of graphene. Figure 1 shows the principle of our process and the device lay-out.…”