Corrosion inhibition properties of graphene oxide on mild steel in 3.5% NaCl

Abstract

In this work the corrosion inhibition of mild steel in 3.5% Sodium chloride (NaCl) solution at ambient conditions by Graphene Oxide (GO) has been studied. Graphene oxide was prepared by Modified Hummers Method and characterized by Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), UV-Visible spectroscopy (UV-Vis), X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), and Thermo-Gravimetric Analysis (TGA). The electrochemical corrosion behaviour of mild steel has been studied in the absence and presence of GO coatings by Tafel polarization and impedance analyses. The modified electrode has 44.8mV potential shift in the cathodic direction and reduction in current by 41.9 μA (61%). This indicates the strong protection offered by graphene oxide film. The obtained impedance spectra also clearly show that the charge transfer resistance of graphene oxide film is much higher than that of the uncoated steel electrode, demonstrating the strong protection offered by graphene oxide films for mild steel.