The main applications of graphene coatings

Graphene is a nano material with the smallest thickness and the highest strength. Because the absorbance is very low, only 2.3%, the appearance is almost completely transparent. Graphene has excellent physical properties, with a thermal conductivity higher than that of carbon nanotubes and diamond, at 5300 W/m k, and an electron mobility greater than 15000cm2/vs at room temperature, higher than that of carbon nanotubes or silicon crystals. Graphene is the best conductive material known in the world, with a resistivity of only 10-8cm, lower than copper or silver.
In summary, graphene has the advantages of large specific surface area, good conductivity, strong chemical stability, excellent mechanical and thermal conductivity. Once graphene coatings were introduced, they received widespread attention from countries around the world. At present, the industrial production of graphene has taken shape in China. Graphene has a wide range of applications, and coatings are currently an important component of many graphene applications. Graphene has various excellent properties and has a very profound application prospect in conductive coatings, anti-corrosion coatings, flame retardant coatings, thermal conductive coatings, and high-strength coatings. Below is a brief introduction and analysis of the main applications in the field of graphene coatings.
Graphene coating can be used as a light colored primer for automotive electrostatic spraying
Automobiles are an important industrial product. As an organic component of the automotive assembly system, automotive plastic parts have good market potential. At present, conventional air spraying is widely used for the coating of plastic parts in automobiles. This spray painting industry uses spray guns as tools and compressed air as carriers for production. During the production process, a large amount of paint is dispersed into the air in the form of atomization, which is not only expensive but also causes serious air pollution. Therefore, automotive and coating companies have always regarded more economical and environmentally friendly new coatings as the main development goal of automotive coatings. Among them, electrostatic spraying is one of the important directions.
Electrostatic spraying uses an electric field as the coating carrier, which not only has high coating utilization efficiency and relatively low cost, but also benefits environmental protection. Moreover, it has fast production speed and high decorative performance. A large part of automotive components, such as the body, bumper, interior and exterior parts, etc. They are all plastic products and cannot form an electric field. In order to achieve the electrostatic spraying process, it is necessary to first apply a layer of conductive primer on the surface of the workpiece, and then perform electrostatic spraying. At present, the conductive primer used for automotive spraying is mainly conductive by adding conductive carbon black. Therefore, the conductive primer has a darker color. For aesthetic purposes, it is often necessary to spray another layer of primer to cover it, followed by formal electrostatic spraying. This method has a complex process, increased costs, and is difficult to promote.
After using graphene coating as a conductive agent, the problem of primer color darkening caused by conductive agents can be avoided, which is very beneficial for the improvement of automotive electrostatic spraying. The data shows that after adding 2% -4% graphene, the primer coating value is 40-50, which can fully meet the color requirements of automotive electrostatic spraying.
Graphene coating can be used for electrostatic conductive coatings
Another important application area of graphene coatings in conductive coatings is electrostatic conductive coatings. The surface resistance of this graphene coating is usually between 106-109, which can effectively prevent static electricity conduction, so it is generally used in places with high requirements for fire and explosion prevention. For example, the interior and exterior walls of oil storage and transportation equipment such as oil tanks, oil pipelines, and oil tankers in industries such as petroleum, chemical, railway, and transportation, as well as equipment anti-corrosion coatings in industries such as coal mining, aviation, textiles, and grain, generally use conductive coatings as anti-corrosion coatings, which can maximize the prevention of equipment corrosion and avoid fire accidents caused by static electricity generated by charge accumulation. Graphene coatings have good conductivity and corrosion resistance, making them effective in electrostatic conductive coatings.