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

MXenes (Ti 3 C 2 T x ), an emerging two-dimensional (2D) material, derived from MAX phases, may have outstanding corrosion resistance performance due to its sheet property. However, pristine Ti 3 C 2 T x is inappropriate to be used directly as an anti-corrosion filler, owing to the existence of hydrophilic groups. Herein, few-layered Ti 3 C 2 T x sheets were modified via TiO 2 . Then functional Ti 3 C 2 T x (Ti 3 C 2 &TiO 2 ) 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%Ti 3 C 2 &TiO 2 composite coating has excellent corrosion resistant performance. After 28 days' immersion, the lowest frequency impedance of WPU/0.1%Ti 3 C 2 &TiO 2 composite coating was 6.64 × 10 7 Ω cm 2 , which was higher than that of WPU coating (3.48 × 10 6 Ω cm 2 ). After 110 days’ immersion, the lowest frequency impedance of WPU/0.1%Ti 3 C 2 &TiO 2 composite coating was 1.75 × 10 6 Ω cm 2 . Furthermore, the results of Tafel curves demonstrated that the corrosion current and corrosion rate of WPU/0.1%Ti 3 C 2 &TiO 2 composite coating were the lowest. That were 2.79 × 10 −9 A/cm 2 and 3.25 × 10 −5 mm/year, respectively. In conclusion, this work extended the great application prospects of functional Ti 3 C 2 T x sheets in the fields of anti-corrosion. • The less layer Ti 3 C 2 T x was obtained via LiF–HCl etching and exfoliating. • The functionalized Ti 3 C 2 T x sheets with TiO 2 were prepared by hydroxyl condensation. • Nanoparticles were introduced into WPU to enhance the anti-corrosion performance. • WPU containing 0.1%Ti 3 C 2 &TiO 2 revealed the excellent anti-corrosion performance.