Novel polyurethane/graphene nanocomposite coatings

A series of graphene based conductive and anticorrosion coatings were developed in this project. Multi layer coating consists of EPD pristine graphene coating, PU/graphene primer and PU/graphene topcoat was developed. A simple mechanical chemical approach was suggested to fabricate graphene with low cost and high efficiency. XRD was used to characterize the exfoliation efficiency of graphite. TEM was used to examine the size of the graphene sheets. SEM was used to characterize the surface morphology of the coatings. The particle size of all the carbon materials used was characterised by Malvern particle sizer. FTIR and XPS were used to characterize the chemical composition of the graphene powder and the coatings fabricated. MDSC and FTIR were used to monitor the cure dynamic of PU. [Continues.]