Composition and method for inhibiting corrosion
A corrosion inhibiting composition including a liquid carrier having a surface tension of at most about 35 dynes/cm and an electrically conductive nanomaterial dispersed in the carrier.
1. A method for inhibiting corrosion of an electroplated structure comprising:
applying to said electroplated structure a composition comprising:
a liquid carrier having a surface tension of at most about 35 dynes/cm; and
an electrically conductive nanomaterial dispersed in said liquid carrier, wherein a weight ratio of said liquid carrier to said electrically conductive nanomaterial ranges from about 120:1 to about 30:1,
wherein said electroplated structure comprises a metallic substrate and electroplating directly on said metallic substrate, said electroplating defining an external surface and said electroplating comprising microcracks, and wherein said applying occurs for a duration of time such that at least a portion of said electrically conductive nanomaterial is received in said microcracks; and
removing said composition from said external surface of said electroplating while leaving said electrically conductive nanomaterial within said microcracks.
2. The method of claim 1 wherein said electroplating comprises at least one of chromium and nickel.
3. The method of claim 1 wherein said applying step comprising brushing said composition onto said electroplated structure.
4. The method of claim 1 wherein said removing comprises wiping.
5. The method of claim 1 wherein said removing step comprises washing.
6. The method of claim 1 wherein said removing step is performed after expiration of a dwell time of at least 5 minutes.
7. The method of claim 6 wherein said dwell time is at least 60 minutes.
8. The method of claim 6 wherein the dwell time is at least 30 minutes.
9. The method of claim 1 further comprising drying said composition.
10. The method of claim 1 wherein said electrically conductive nanomaterial comprises at least one of carbon nanoplatelets, graphene nanoplatelets, carbon nanotubes and carbon nanorods.
11. The method of claim 1 wherein said surface tension is at most about 30 dynes/cm.
12. The method of claim 1 wherein said surface tension is at most about 25 dynes/cm.
13. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of said electrically conductive nanomaterial has at least one dimension ranging from about 1 to about 500 nanometers.
14. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of said electrically conductive nanomaterial has at least one dimension ranging from about 1 to about 100 nanometers.
15. The method of claim 1 wherein at least a portion of said electrically conductive nanomaterial has at least one dimension ranging from about 1 to about 10 nanometers.
16. The method of claim 1 wherein said electrically conductive nanomaterial comprises graphene nanoplatelets.
17. The method of claim 1 wherein said electrically conductive nanomaterial comprises carbon nanotubes.
18. The method of claim 1 wherein a weight ratio of said liquid carrier to said electrically conductive nanomaterial ranges from about 100:1 to about 50:1.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein said weight ratio ranges from about 80:1 to about 60:1.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein said composition further comprises a dye.