Corrosion-Resistant Hydrophobic Nanostructured Ni-Reduced Graphene Oxide Composite Coating with Improved Mechanical Properties

In the present work, corrosion-resistant and hydrophobic nickel-reduced graphene oxide (Ni-RGO) composite coating prepared by electroless deposition technique on mild steel (MS), without the use of toxic chemicals, is reported. The field emission scanning electron microscopy micrographs show a uniform composite coating of Ni-RGO with smaller grain size, whereas cuboidal and larger grains were observed in the case of Ni coating on MS. A reduction in crystallite size from 30 to 13 nm with the incorporation of RGO to the Ni matrix was estimated from XRD. The corrosion activity was investigated with potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy measurements. The surface of Ni-RGO composite coating remained intact, almost undamaged and showed a robust resistance to corrosion with an inhibition efficiency of about 95% in aggressive 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution. Nanoindentation test revealed that the hardness and Young’s modulus of Ni-RGO composite coating are increased by about 25 and 19%, respectively, as compared to Ni coating.