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Graphene
paints a corrosion-free future |
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A
thin layer of graphene paint can make impermeable and chemically
resistant coatings which could be used for packaging to keep food
fresh for longer and protect metal structures against corrosion,
new find-ings from The University of Manchester show.
The
surface of graphene, a one atom thick sheet of carbon, can be
randomly decorated with oxygen to create graphene oxide; a form of
graphene that could have a significant impact on the chemical,
pharmaceutical and electronic industries. Applied as paint, it
could provide an ultra-strong, non-corrosive coating for a wide
range of industrial applications.
Graphene
oxide solutions can be used to paint various surfaces ranging from
glass to metals to even conventional bricks. After a simple
chemical treatment, the resulting coatings behave like graphite in
terms of chemical and thermal stability but become mechanically
nearly as tough as graphene, the strongest material known to man.
Exceptional
barrier properties
The
team led by Dr. Rahul Nair and Nobel laureate Sir Andre Geim
demonstrated previously that multilayer films made from graphene
oxide are vacuum tight under dry conditions but, if exposed to
water or its vapour, act as molecular sieves allowing passage of
small molecules below a certain size. Those findings could have
huge implications for water purification. This contrasting
property is due to the structure of graphene oxide films that
consist of millions of small flakes stacked randomly on top of
each other, but leave nano-sized capillaries between them. Water
molecules like to be inside these nano-capillaries and can drag
small atoms and molecules along.
In
an article published in Nature Communications this
week, the University of Manchester team shows that it is possible
to tightly close those nanocapillaries using simple chemical
treatments, which makes graphene films even stronger mechanically
as well as completely impermeable to everything: gases, liquids or
strong chemicals. For example, the researchers demonstrate that
glassware or copper plates covered with graphene paint can be used
as containers for strongly corrosive acids.
The
exceptional barrier properties of graphene paint have already
attracted interest from many companies who now collaborate with
The University of Manchester on development of new protective and
anticorrosion coatings.
According
to Dr. Nair graphene paint has a good chance to become a truly
revolutionary product for industries that deal with any kind of
protection either from air, weather elements or corrosive
chemicals. Those include, for example, medical, electronics and
nuclear industry or even shipbuilding, to name but the few.
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