Engineering MXenes (Ti3C2Tx) surface with TiO2 for enhancing anti-corrosion performance of coatings

• Published in: Polymer (Guilford) 2021-09, Vol.230, p.124086, Article 124086
• Main Authors: Zhang, Fengyuan, Liu, Weiqu, Wang, Shuo, Shi, Hongyi, Liu, Chunhua, Liang, Liyan, Pi, Ke
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Anti-corrosion; Coatings; Composite coatings; Corrosion; Corrosion currents; Corrosion prevention; Corrosion rate; Corrosion resistance; Immersion; Impedance; MXenes; Polyurethane; Polyurethane resins; Protective coatings; Sheets; Submerging; Ti3C2Tx; TiO2; Titanium dioxide; Two dimensional materials
• ISSN: 0032-3861; 1873-2291
• DOI: 10.1016/j.polymer.2021.124086

MXenes (Ti3C2Tx), an emerging two-dimensional (2D) material, derived from MAX phases, may have outstanding corrosion resistance performance due to its sheet property. However, pristine Ti3C2Tx is inappropriate to be used directly as an anti-corrosion filler, owing to the existence of hydrophilic groups. Herein, few-layered Ti3C2Tx sheets were modified via TiO2. Then functional Ti3C2Tx (Ti3C2&TiO2) was introduced to the waterborne polyurethane (WPU) coating. Finally, the corrosion resistance of the prepared composite coating was studied in detail. The results revealed that containing 0.1 wt%Ti3C2&TiO2 composite coating has excellent corrosion resistant performance. After 28 days' immersion, the lowest frequency impedance of WPU/0.1%Ti3C2&TiO2 composite coating was 6.64 × 107 Ω cm2, which was higher than that of WPU coating (3.48 × 106 Ω cm2). After 110 days’ immersion, the lowest frequency impedance of WPU/0.1%Ti3C2&TiO2 composite coating was 1.75 × 106 Ω cm2. Furthermore, the results of Tafel curves demonstrated that the corrosion current and corrosion rate of WPU/0.1%Ti3C2&TiO2 composite coating were the lowest. That were 2.79 × 10−9 A/cm2 and 3.25 × 10−5 mm/year, respectively. In conclusion, this work extended the great application prospects of functional Ti3C2Tx sheets in the fields of anti-corrosion. [Display omitted] •The less layer Ti3C2Tx was obtained via LiF–HCl etching and exfoliating.•The functionalized Ti3C2Tx sheets with TiO2 were prepared by hydroxyl condensation.•Nanoparticles were introduced into WPU to enhance the anti-corrosion performance.•WPU containing 0.1%Ti3C2&TiO2 revealed the excellent anti-corrosion performance.