CVD Synthesis of Monodisperse Graphene/Cu Microparticles with High Corrosion Resistance in Cu Etchant

High Oxidation Resistance of CVD Graphene-Reinforced Copper Matrix Composites

Copper-based materials are common industrial products which have been broadly applied to the fields of powder metallurgy, electrical contact, and heat exchangers, etc. However, the ease of surface oxidation limits the durability and effectiveness of copper-based components. Here, we have developed a powder metallurgy process to fabricate graphene/copper composites using copper powders which were first deposited with graphene layers by thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The graphene/copper composites embedded with an interconnected graphene network was then able to be obtained by vacuum hot-pressing. After thermal oxidation (up to 220 °C) in humid air for several hours, we found that the degree of surface oxidation of our samples was much less than that of their pure Cu counterpart and our samples produced a much smaller increase of interfacial contact resistance when used as electrical contact materials. As a result, our graphene/copper composites showed a significant enhancement of oxidation resistance ability (≈5.6 times) compared to their pure Cu counterpart, thus offering potential applications as novel electrical contact materials.

Low-Temperature CVD Graphene Nanostructures on Cu and Their Corrosion Properties

Chemical vapor deposition (CVD) graphene is reported to effectively prevent the penetration of outer factors and insulate the underneath metals, hence achieving an anticorrosion purpose. However, there is little knowledge about their characteristics and corresponding corrosion properties, especially for those prepared under different parameters at low temperatures. Using electron cyclotron resonance chemical vapor deposition (ECR-CVD), we can successfully prepare graphene nanostructures on copper (Cu) at temperatures lower than 600 °C. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman spectroscopy, and potentiodynamic polarization measurements were used to characterize these samples. In simulated seawater, i.e., 3.5 wt.% sodium chloride (NaCl) solution, the corrosion current density of one graphene-coated Cu fabricated at 400 °C can be 1.16 × 10⁻⁵ A/cm², which is one order of magnitude lower than that of pure Cu. Moreover, the existence of tall graphene nanowalls was found not to be beneficial to the protection as a consequence of their layered orientation. These correlations among the morphology, structure, and corrosion properties of graphene nanostructures were investigated in this study. Therefore, the enhanced corrosion resistance in selected cases suggests that the low-temperature CVD graphene under appropriate conditions would be able to protect metal substrates against corrosion.