Adsorption behavior of Ti3C2Tx with h-BN nanosheet and their application in waterborne epoxy anti-corrosion coating

The addition of MXene nanosheets can significantly improve the anticorrosive properties of organic coating for its microstructure and intrinsic characteristics. But it may promote the corrosion of steel substrate for its high conductivity once forming the conductive networks. In this work, OH group modified h-BN was used to enhance the corrosion protection of waterborne Ti3C2Tx/epoxy coating and reduce the formation of the Ti3C2Tx MXene conductive networks. The B and N vacancy defects were found significantly improving the adsorption stability of Ti3C2Tx/h-BN by density functional theory (DFT) calculation, and the Ti3C2Tx/h-BN adsorption structure was observed through experiment observation. The compactness and anti-corrosion performance of composite coatings were dramatically improved after the addition of Ti3C2Tx and h-BN nanosheets. The EIS tests show that Ti3C2Tx/h-BN/epoxy coating could maintain one time constant after 21 days of immersion, and its impedance modulus at |Z|f = 0.01 Hz is over 1.5 orders of magnitude higher than that of the pure epoxy coating. This work will not only clarify the interaction mechanism between h-BN and Ti3C2Tx but also provide a strategy for disrupting the conductive network of Ti3C2Tx.