Investigation on Corrosion Behavior of Reduced Graphene Oxide/Zirconia Nanocomposite Coated by Pulse Electrodeposition Technique on Api-X65 Steel

In this research, pulse electrodeposition of partially reduced graphene oxide/zirconia (PRGO/ZrO2) has been reported to improve the corrosion resistance of API-X65 steel. The PRGO/ZrO2 nanocomposite was synthesized through a green hydrothermal method from the ZrOCl2 and graphene oxide (GO) precursors at a temperature of 180 °C, a pressure of 11 bar, and a duration time of 24 h. To the nanocomposite electrodeposition, the various concentrations of PRGO/ZrO2 with 0.1, 1, and 10 g/l of were prepared and through pulse current electrodeposition in 10, 20, 30, and 40 mA/cm2 the coatings were accomplished. Field emission scanning electron microscopy (FE-SEM) results showed zirconia by a mechanism of covering the graphene defects at 600 °C could increase the corrosion resistance up to 4 times rather than the substrate. Transition electron microscopy (TEM) analysis confirmed the formation of ZrO2 nanoparticles in the range of 5 to 25 nm in the coating. Moreover, results demonstrated the desired coating could be formed in a concentration of 10 g/l, current pulse density of 30 mA/cm2, a number of cycles of 1200, and heat treatment the coating in temperature of 600 °C for 4 h