Owing to the requirement of higher efficiency, safety reliability and lower maintenance cost for nuclear reactors, the performance improvement of zirconium (Zr) alloy cladding coating materials is becoming increasingly significant. Graphene, with its inherent properties like ultrahigh thermal conductivity, excellent chemical stability, and super-hydrophobicity, has demonstrated enormous potential in the field of corrosion prevention and thermal management, indicating its promising application in cladding materials. Herein, plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) was employed for growing vertically-aligned graphene (VG) array on Zr alloy (ZA) substrates. In the deposition process, C₂H₄ gas was introduced into the reactor as the carbon source and the reactor was kept at a growth temperature range of 650–800 °C, which is 300–400 °C lower than that for traditional graphene synthesis using thermal chemical vapor deposition (CVD). The effects of other growth experimental parameters such as gas flow ratio, radio-frequency power (RF-power), growth temperature, reaction pressure and deposition time were systematically investigated. The corrosion resistance and thermal transport performance of vertical graphene enhanced Zr alloy (VGZA) were studied by using electrochemical corrosion method and heat dissipation test system. The results showed that the samples loaded with vertical graphene could effectively improve the corrosion resistance and heat transport property.

由于对核反应堆更高效率、安全可靠性和更低维护成本的要求，锆（Zr）合金包覆涂层材料的性能提升越来越显着。石墨烯具有超高导热性、优异的化学稳定性和超疏水性等固有特性，在防腐蚀和热管理领域显示出巨大的潜力，表明其在包覆材料中的应用前景广阔。在此，等离子体增强化学气相沉积 (PECVD) 用于在 Zr 合金 (ZA) 基板上生长垂直排列的石墨烯 (VG) 阵列。在沉积过程中，C ₂ H ₄将气体作为碳源引入反应器，并将反应器保持在 650-800°C 的生长温度范围内，比使用热化学气相沉积 (CVD) 的传统石墨烯合成温度低 300-400°C。系统研究了气体流量比、射频功率（RF-power）、生长温度、反应压力和沉积时间等其他生长实验参数的影响。采用电化学腐蚀方法和散热测试系统研究了垂直石墨烯增强锆合金（VGZA）的耐腐蚀性和热传输性能。结果表明，负载垂直石墨烯的样品可以有效提高耐腐蚀性和传热性能。