Construction of a high-performance anti-corrosion and anti-wear coating based on the MXene@PTA-Zn(II): Electrochemical/tribological investigations

In this study, MXene was functionalized with poly (tannic acid) to prepare MXene@PTA nanosheets. Subsequently, zinc ions (Zn(II)) was introduced into the MXene@PTA to obtain MXene@PTA-Zn(II) hybrids. The successful preparation of the hybrids was confirmed by FTIR, XPS, and SPM analysis. The composite coatings containing MXene@PTA-Zn(II) were then prepared and subjected to tribology and electrochemical tests. The results of the tribology test showed that 4-PMZ/WEP coating (with 0.4 wt% MXene@PTA-Zn(II)) has a uniform and shallow wear trace after 30 min of friction, and its wear rate decreased by 85.29 % in comparison to the blank WEP coating. The electrochemical tests demonstrated 4-PMZ/WEP coating has excellent corrosion resistance, which maintains a high |Z0.01 Hz|(9.0 × 108 Ω·cm2) after 42 days of immersion in the 3.5 wt% NaCl solution. These findings indicate that MXene@PTA-Zn(II) can effectively enhance the anti-corrosion properties and tribological properties of WEP coatings. As a result, this work provides new ideas for applications of MXene in the domain of metal protection.