A team of scientists including an Indian-origin researcher has developed a graphene coating invisible to the human eye that can make copper nearly 100 times more resistant to corrosion.

Researchers from the Monash University and Rice University in the US believe their find could mean paradigm changes in the development of anti-corrosion coatings using extremely thin graphene films.

Graphene is a microscopically thin layer of carbon atoms.

It is already in use in such things as smartphone screens, and is attracting research attention for its possibilities as a means of increasing metal’s resistance to corrosion.

Dr Parama Banerjee, who performed most of the experiments for this study, said graphene had excellent mechanical properties and great strength.

The polymer coatings that are often used on metals can be scratched, compromising their protective ability, but the invisible layer of graphene — although it changes neither the feel nor the appearance of the metal — is much harder to damage.

“I call it a magic material,” Banerjee said.

The researchers applied the graphene to copper at temperatures between 800 and 900 degrees, using a technique known as chemical vapour deposition, and tested it in saline water.

“In nations like Australia, where we are surrounded by ocean, it is particularly significant that such an atomically thin coating can provide protection in that environment,” Banerjee said.

The process is still in the laboratory-testing stage, but the researchers are looking at different metals and also investigating ways of applying the coating at lower temperatures, which would simplify production and enhance market potential.

The study was published in the journal Carbon.

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