Capillary assisted self-assembly and nascent hydrogen reduction of graphene oxide on Al: Formation of C-O-Al bonds under mild condition

Graphene has been recognized as reinforcement and/or protective coating for metal materials due to its unique electronic, mechanical properties and chemical inertness. Challenges of graphene agglomeration and weak graphene/metal interfacial bonding still exist during preparation. Here we report a novel method combining capillary-assisted self-assembly with nascent hydrogen reduction technique to one step coat Al foil with layeredstacking graphene. Al foil constructed slit is filled with graphene oxide (GO) suspensions and the generation of nascent hydrogen occurs at the GO/Al interface. The capillary force drives the GO flakes to layer-by-layer assemble on Al foil, as well as increases the reduction depth of GO. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) reveals that the reduced GO (rGO) binds with Al is not just through van der Waals forces, but with a strong interaction of developing C-O-Al bonds. The hydroxyl groups on GO plays an essential role in the formation of such C-O-Al configuration. Al foil coated with rGO through this capillary-assisted self-assembly with nascent hydrogen reduction method show good corrosion resistance compared to the pristine Al and directly drop-casted GO on Al. The proposed method can be readily applied to the fabrication of graphene/metal composites with improved interfaces.

Automated summary

In this study, a new method combining capillary-assisted self-assembly with nascent hydrogen reduction technique is proposed for one-step coating of layered-stacked graphene on aluminum foil. The aluminum foil coated with graphene exhibits excellent corrosion resistance.