Direct electro-co-deposition of Ni-reduced graphene oxide composite coating for anti-corrosion application

Abstract A composite coating was fabricated by electrodeposition of Ni together with electrophoresis of reduced graphene oxide (rGO) on low carbon steel. To this end, graphene oxide (GO) was first reduced chemically to rGO in order to improve electrophoretic movement. The electro-co-deposition process of Ni2+ and rGO exhibited a fast growth rate of ~3.33 µm min−1, resulting in a fine and uniform microstructure. Thus, polarization and impedance test results in 0.5 M H2SO4 suggested that Ni-rGO coating was able to provide a protection efficiency of 99.5%. Relative to other coating systems, Ni-rGO may present itself as a cost-effective, high-performance material candidate for anti-corrosion coating.