Improving the macro-scale tribology of monolayer graphene oxide coating on stainless steel by a silane bonding layer

This work aimed at improving the macro-scale tribology of single-layer graphene oxide (GO) coating on metallic surfaces. To this end, stainless steel substrate was modified by a silane prior to the self-assembly of a GO coating. Tribological tests, Raman spectroscopy and elemental analysis were performed. The results show that the pre-deposited silane intermediate layer effectively enhanced the tribological performance of the top GO coating in terms of very low friction (∼0.1), 10-fold reduction in wear and increased coating durability by 20 times. The improvement could be mainly attributed to the enhanced bonding via the silane layer.