Covalent polymer functionalization of graphene/graphene oxide and its application as anticorrosion materials

Research on grapheme-polymer composites as the promising ion barrier materials to tackle the corrosion issue is rapidly developing and attracts interests from both academia and industry. In this minireview, we highlight the covalent functionalization of graphene and its derivatives such as graphene oxide (GO) with polymer brushes, and their application in anticorrosion within the last 3 years. There are some recent excellent reviews published on single layer graphene and graphene-based polymer composites for anticorrosion. However, the covalent functionalization of graphene and GO with polymer brushes for application in anticorrosion has not been addressed in those reviews. In this review, we describe first the current state of the art of covalent functionalization of graphene/GO with polymer brushes. We then discuss the application of pristine graphene as anticorrosion material and its drawbacks which can be overcome by graphene-based polymer composites. Afterwards, we discuss in detail the recent progress and development of covalent polymer functionalized graphene/GO as anticorrosion coatings, reported within the last 3 years. Finally, as perspective, we will briefly summarize the work on composites of polymers with other two-dimensional (2D) materials as anticorrosion coatings. Herein, hexagonal boron nitride, the most studied 2D materials after graphene, and Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene which is the rising star of 2D transition metal carbide/nitride will be discussed.