Among the various graphene synthesis methods, chemical vapor deposition (CVD) is one of the most promising and advantageous, since its result generates graphene monolayers of excellent quality, due to the possibility of large-scale production, restricted only to by the size of the system, and it can be performed on substrates of different materials, such as copper and nickel. However, to obtain graphene thin films, it is necessary to control experimental parameters, such as temperature, time and gas flow, in addition to the quality of the substrate.[1,2] The graphene deposited by CVD can be used to surface protection of steels against corrosion, even though there is no consensus on surface preparation methods for this purpose. Moreover corrosion is an important phenomenon that is influenced by environmental issues and surface conditions of the metal, such as energy and surface roughness, and graphene has properties that favor anti-corrosion protection.[3] This work aims to find an economical method of preparing the steel surface for graphene deposition by CVD. Different metallographic preparation techniques will be used, including sanding, polishing and etching, which will be compared with sandblasting, in order to find the best cost-quality surface combination. It is intended to find a route that promotes a better adhesion of graphene in an economical way. In summary, with the preparation route defined, it is expected to increase the use of CVD graphene as an anticorrosive layer in steels.[4]

References

[1] F., Ghaemi, L.C., Abdullah, P.M., Tahir, et al.; Synthesis of Different Layers of Graphene on Stainless Steel Using the CVD Method, 2016, Nanoscale Res Lett 11, 506.

[2] E.C., Romani, D.G., Larrude, L., Nachez, et al.; Graphene Grown by Chemical Vapour Deposition on Steel Substrates: Friction Behaviour, 2017, Tribol Lett 65, 96.

[3] L.F., Dumée, Li He, Z., Wang, et al.; Growth of nano-textured graphene coatings across highly porous stainless steel supports towards corrosion resistant coatings, 2015, Carbon, 87, 95-408.

[4] ASM Handbook; Metallography: An Introduction, Metallography and Microstructures, 2004, 9, 2733.