We present novel strategies for obtaining materials with low secondary electron emission under electron beam irradiation for advanced technological applications. Apart from the promising low secondary electron emission yield (SEY) of amorphous carbon coatings deposited on rough surfaces, graphene nanoplatelets are shown to be very effective in reducing the SEY even over flat substrates. Here, we report very low SEY from coatings of graphene platelets exposed to the air, indicating a 60% reduction of the SEY respect to the uncoated flat surfaces. The shape of the SEY curve as a function of primary energy looks like the inverted image of a typical SEY curve. (C) 2013 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.