Extraordinary Corrosion Protection from Polymer–Clay Nanobrick Wall Thin Films

Metals across all industries demand anticorrosion surface treatments and drive a continual need for high-performing and low-cost coatings. Here we demonstrate polymer–clay nanocomposite thin films as a new class of transparent conformal barrier coatings for protection in corrosive atmospheres. Films assembled via layer-by-layer deposition, as thin as 90 nm, are shown to reduce copper corrosion rates by >1000× in an aggressive H₂S atmosphere. These multilayer nanobrick wall coatings hold promise as high-performing anticorrosion treatment alternatives to costlier, more toxic, and less scalable thin films, such as graphene, hexavalent chromium, or atomic-layer-deposited metal oxides.