Interfacial combination of Ti3C2Tx MXene with waterborne epoxy anticorrosive coating

Interfacial combination of two-dimensional material composite coatings is one of the main factors affecting anti-corrosion performance of coatings. The surface of MXene are usually covered with active groups such as F, O, OH, etc. However, the interactions between active groups and epoxy molecules are still unclear. Here in, the adsorption stability and chemical bond types of Ti3C2Tx/epoxy structures with different surface groups were investigated by first-principles calculations. The waterborne Ti3C2Tx/epoxy composite coatings were prepared by liquid phase blending method. The micro-structures, anticorrosion performance and compactness of the coatings were studied. Based on the theoretical calculations, Ti3C2Tx shows excellent adsorption stability with epoxy molecules, and the Ti3C2Tx with OH groups exhibited the best adsorption stability due to the formation of covalent bonds between OH groups and the epoxy groups (or benzene structures). The experimental results show that, Ti3C2Tx nanosheets can disperse uniformly in the coating prepared by the liquid phase blending method. The micro-pores in composite coatings are improved, and the impedance modulus is 2 orders of magnitude much higher than that of pure epoxy coating. In this work, the studies of the adsorption behavior of Ti3C2Tx MXene to epoxy groups and benzene structures provide a reliable basis for the subsequent targeted regulation of the interaction between them.