Electrophoretic deposition of graphene oxide on mild carbon steel for anti-corrosion application

In the present work, electrophoretic deposition (EPD) was used to deposit graphene oxide (GO) onto carbon steel from a GO water suspension. The GO coating was used as a barrier layer for the corrosion protection of carbon steel. The suspension of GO was characterized by measuring the zeta potential of the solution using a dispersion optical analyzer. The morphology of the GO and the surface morphology of the EPD layers were investigated using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), and Raman spectroscopy was performed to determine the effects of EPD on the electrochemical reduction of GO. GO was successfully synthesized using the modified Hummers method, and a GO layer was efficiently deposited onto mild steel using EPD. EPD and the partial reduction of the GO occurred simultaneously under the applied electrical fields. Moreover, the anti-corrosion performance of the GO–EPD layers was characterized using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS), the potentiodynamic polarization method, and a cyclic corrosion test (CCT). The applications of GO–EPD as an underlying layer improved the anti-corrosion performance of organic top-coated steel due to the superior barrier property of GO. •GO layer was successfully formed on the mild steel using electrophoretic deposition.•The quantitative analysis for the electrophoretic deposition of GO was performed.•Partial reduction of the GO occurred simultaneously with electrophoretic deposition.•GO–EPD film was utilized as an underlying layer for an organic coating on steel.•GO–EPD film improved the corrosion resistance of the organic coating on steel.