Co-electrodeposition of silane and graphene oxide on copper to enhance the corrosion protection performance

In the present work, silane and graphene oxide (GO) nanocomposite was successfully constructed on copper using a facile co-electrodeposition procedure. Structure and composition characterizations revealed that the added GO nanosheets were partially electro-reduced and covalently bonded with silanol groups to form a more compact and uniform nanocomposite, which contributed to the enhanced chemical and mechanical performance of the electrodeposited silane/GO nanocomposite. Electrochemical tests indicated that the corrosion current density was decreased over two orders of magnitude. The protection efficiency was maintained above 99.8% after immersing in 1 mol/L sodium chloride aqueous solution 120 h. Meanwhile, the contact angle and sliding angle of electrodeposited silane/GO nanocomposite varied slightly after abraded 150 cycles, which presented an excellent mechanical durability. According to the above results, this work supplies a feasible and effective strategy for corrosion protection of conducting materials with long-term protectiveness and mechanical robustness in real-life applications.