The multiple faces of graphene on anticorrosion: Advances and prospects

In recent years, graphene has remarkably enhanced the protective performance of anticorrosive organic coatings, yielding increasingly frequent exciting results and perspectives. This paper reviews the latest research advancements that we have gathered on the influences of conductivity, modification, dispersion methods and controllable orientation of graphene; the graphene-based smart anticorrosive coatings; the current understandings on the designs of the anticorrosive coating and the action mechanisms of graphene in the coating. It is concluded that there would be greater opportunities for the gravitational field-induced method to play the shielding effect of graphene; noncovalent modification methods may not ensure satisfactory attachment of the modifiers to the surface; green modification methods are expected to reduce the electrical conductivity of graphene and covalently modify graphene; the self-healing and early-warning graphene-based anticorrosive coatings are becoming a trend in the development of anti-corrosive coatings. The current-faced challenges and the future development prospects of the graphene-based anticorrosive coating were also proposed. Although graphene performs well in anticorrosive coatings, there is still considerable room to improve the performance, and a new round of industrial optimisation and upgrading in the anti-corrosion coating industry is inevitable with the rapid development of the anticorrosive graphene-based filler.