LAUSR

Abstract We demonstrated the mechanism that makes Graphene Oxide (GO) a superior material for corrosion protection over reduced graphene oxide (rGO) and nitrogen doped reduced graphene oxide (N-rGO). According to the results of our electrochemical study, supported by a host of characterization methods and density functional theory (DFT) based calculations, reduction of GO to synthesize rGO or doping of foreign heteroatoms like nitrogen to synthesize N-rGO, exposes and/or creates the defects/pores on the basal carbon plane of GO. Through these defects/pores of rGO and N-rGO, the corrodants react with the metal-surface and corrode it. A subnanometric layer of GO adhered to carbonyl iron (CI) surface through grafting by a thin Glycine (Gly) layer, repels the corrodants and shows robust corrosion protection performance in 1 M KCl solution, over a similar layer of rGO or N-rGO. Hence, our work demonstrate that a coating of GO on metallic Fe surface, grafted via a thin glycine layer, is the economical solution and has the robust performance for its direct industrial application for corrosion protection.