Enhancing Graphene Protective Coatings by Hydrogen-Induced Chemical Bond Formation

Area of Science:

• Materials Science
• Surface Science
• Nanotechnology

Background:

• Graphene is a promising material for metal coatings.
• Intercalation of foreign species can degrade graphene coatings.
• Graphene-metal interface interactions influence coating performance.

Purpose of the Study:

• To demonstrate an engineering pathway to enhance graphene's usability as a metal coating.
• To investigate the effect of increased graphene-metal interface interactions on preventing species intercalation.
• To utilize hydrogen functionalization to engineer these interactions.

Main Methods:

• Graphene on Iridium(111) (Gr/Ir(111)) was used as a model system.
• Hydrogen functionalization was applied to the top side of graphene.
• X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) was employed to analyze the interface and intercalation.

Main Results:

• Hydrogen functionalization significantly increased interactions at the graphene-Ir interface.
• This enhanced interaction effectively prevented carbon monoxide (CO) intercalation.
• The functionalized graphene protected against 10x higher CO pressure and 70x higher CO fluences compared to pristine graphene.

Conclusions:

• Increased graphene-metal interface interactions, induced by hydrogen functionalization, prevent foreign species intercalation.
• This method provides an effective engineering strategy to improve graphene's utility as a protective metal coating.
• The functionalized Gr/Ir(111) system shows significantly enhanced resistance to CO intercalation.