Corrosion behavior of Mg/graphene composite in aqueous electrolyte

In the present work, the electrochemical corrosion behavior of magnesium (Mg) and thin layer graphene coated Mg (Mg/graphene) are studied in different salt electrolyte such as NaCl, KCl and Na2SO4. The phase structure, crystallinity, and surface morphology of the samples are investigated using X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, scanning electron microscopy coupled with energy dispersive X-ray analysis (SEM/EDAX), and Raman spectroscopy techniques. The electrochemical corrosion behavior of the Mg and graphene coated Mg are also investigated using Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) analysis. The tafel plot reveals that the corrosion of Mg drastically drops when coated with thin layer graphene (Mg/graphene) compared to Mg in KCl electrolyte. Moreover, the EIS confirms that Mg/graphene sample shows improve corrosion resistance and lower corrosion rate in KCl solution compare to all other electrolytes studied in the present system.