Enhancing wear resistance and mechanical property of epoxy coating via “roller wheel” liquid metal-MXene

This work presents a design of a unique “roller wheel” structure combining rigid MXene and flexible liquid metal (LM), aiming to construct an epoxy composite coating with simultaneous advanced mechanical strength and lubrication properties. The antiwear property of the epoxy composites is improved by 72.8% when the LM is 0.5 wt% and MXene is 0.03 wt%. The incorporation of LM-MXene improved the mechanical properties of the epoxy composite coating, resulting in an approximately 136.6% increase in elastic modulus. The unique “roller wheel” structure provides additional mechanical support and leads to lower adhesion between the MXene layers and LM. As a result, LM reduces the stripping and sliding of the interface between MXene layers during the friction process, further enhancing the lubrication performance of the epoxy composite coating.