Abstract
In this work we present a study on the performance of CVD (chemical vapor deposition) graphene coatings grown and transferred on Ni as protection barriers under two scenarios that lead to unwanted metal ion release, microbial corrosion and allergy test conditions. These phenomena have a strong impact in different fields considering nickel (or its alloys) is one of the most widely used metals in industrial and consumer products. Microbial corrosion costs represent fractions of national gross product in different developed countries, whereas Ni allergy is one of the most prevalent allergic conditions in the western world, affecting around 10% of the population. We found that grown graphene coatings act as a protective membrane in biological environments that decreases microbial corrosion of Ni and reduces release of Ni2+ ions (source of Ni allergic contact hypersensitivity) when in contact with sweat. This performance seems not to be connected to the strong orbital hybridization that Ni and graphene interface present, indicating electron transfer might not be playing a main role in the robust response of this nanostructured system. The observed protection from biological environment can be understood in terms of graphene impermeability to transfer Ni2+ ions, which is enhanced for few layers of graphene grown on Ni. We expect our work will provide a new route for application of graphene as a protection coating for metals in biological environments, where current strategies have shown short-term efficiency and have raised health concerns.
Highlights
When metals are in contact with biofilms, which naturally form under the exposure of materials to ambient moisture, miscellaneous metabolic activities lead to the production of organic and inorganic acids, volatile compounds and other chemical reactions with the metals
Motivated by the need of studies exploring the protection that graphene coatings offer to other relevant metals, we present a study on the efficiency of graphene grown and transferred on Ni as an ionic barrier under two biological conditions, microbial corrosion and sweat immersion
Morphological characterization of samples prior to bacterial and sweat contact was obtained by scanning electron microscopy (SEM) (Figure 1a–d)
Summary
When metals are in contact with biofilms, which naturally form under the exposure of materials to ambient moisture, miscellaneous metabolic activities lead to the production of organic and inorganic acids, volatile compounds and other chemical reactions with the metals. These processes induce a highly accelerated deterioration of the substrate known as microbiologically influenced corrosion or microbial corrosion [1]. Current strategies to prevent microbial corrosion in metallic structures aim to attack biofilms that cause microbial corrosion They mainly include physical methods (e.g., flushing) and chemical methods (e.g., biocides) [2,4]. With the pressure of stringent environmental regulations monotonically increasing, there is an urgent need for new environmentally friendly and sustainable microbial corrosion control strategies
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