Long-chain alkyl modified Ti3C2Tx MXene: A promising material for self-healing superhydrophobic composite coatings

Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene shows potential for composite anti-corrosion composite coatings due to its excellent barrier properties and mechanical strength. However, its susceptibility to oxidative decomposition and inherent hydrophilicity limit applications in superhydrophobic coatings. To address these issues, we modified Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene nanosheets with dopamine and 1-dodecanethiol via a one-step hydrophobic treatment, producing SH/PDA-Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene. We also synthesized fluorinated prepolymers and fabricated self-healing superhydrophobic coatings with excellent photothermal and anti-corrosion properties using spray-coating. The coating exhibits outstanding anti-corrosion performance due to effective dispersion of SH/PDA- Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene, physical barrier effects, and superhydrophobic structure. SEM, EDS, and EIS analyses confirmed that the coating maintained excellent corrosion protection for Q235 substrates even after 60 days immersion in 3.5wt% NaCl solution, primarily attributed to the physical barrier of SH/PDA-Ti 3 C 2 T x MXene and superhydrophobic surface. Additionally, the coating demonstrated excellent self-healing properties: after long-term corrosive medium exposure, its impedance and contact angle rapidly recovered from 2.17 × 10 9 Ω·cm 2 and 76.9° to 9.55 × 10 10 Ω·cm 2 and 153.3° under 2.80 Sun irradiation. This study provides a novel approach for future MXene applications in metal corrosion protection through hydrophobic modification of Ti3C2Tx MXene and superhydrophobic coating construction.