Eco-friendly method for construction of superhydrophobic graphene-based coating on copper substrate and its corrosion resistance performance

In this work, Ni and Ni-graphene, Ni-G, films were electrodeposited on copper substrate by potentiostatic deposition. To achieve superhydrophobicity, myristic acid, MA, was used to modify the surface of the electrodeposited coatings. The manufactured Ni film modified with myristic acid, Ni-MA, and the Ni-G film modified with myristic acid, Ni-G-MA, show excellent superhydrophobic, SHP, properties with a water contact angle of 159° and 162°, respectively. The surface morphology of the prepared SHP films was investigated using a Scanning Electron Microscope, and the results revealed micro-nano structures in both Ni-MA and Ni-G-MA films. The Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrophotometer data showed that the Ni-MA and Ni-G-MA films were successfully grafted on the copper metal. The Ni-G-MA film possessed higher chemical stability and mechanical abrasion resistance than Ni-MA. The Ni-MA and Ni-G-MA films exhibit long-term durability in the outdoor environment for more than four months. The potentiodynamic polarization and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy results demonstrated that the SHP films on the copper substrate exhibit remarkable corrosion resistance in 0.5 M NaCl.