Defects, corrugation and temperature govern rarefied-air drag on graphene coatings

In rarefied atmospheric environments, where continuum fluid dynamics breaks down, aerodynamic drag is governed by gas–surface momentum exchange, making surface structure and chemistry key design knobs. Using molecular dynamics simulations, we show that coating the α-Al₂O₃(0001) surface with graphene markedly reduces the tangential momentum accommodation coefficient (TMAC) of N₂, shifting scattering toward more specular reflection and thereby lowering drag; we further benchmark this response against graphite. The reduction is robust and strengthens up to 900 K. While structural defects can increase TMAC – and hence drag – via defect-induced corrugation and local atomic and electronic rearrangements, graphene retains near-ideal low-TMAC performance at experimentally relevant defect densities. These results identify graphene as a thermally resilient, low-drag coating for aerospace-relevant surfaces in rarefied flows.