Hierarchical MXene-PEG/Fluroresin Composite Coating: An Interfacial Self-Adaptive Strategy for Lubrication and...

Polymer-based nanocomposite coatings capable of reducing abrasion and inhibiting corrosion simultaneously have great potential in marine metallic equipment. However, realizing composite coatings interfacial adaptability to external dynamic load and saltwater erosion still faces significant challenge. Herein, a marine environment self-adaptive nanocomposite coating was developed, leveraging frictional heat-driven solid-liquid phase transition of hierarchical MXene-polyethylene glycol (PEG)/fluroresin. The coating takes fluorocarbon resin (FR) as the matrix, incorporating MXene nanosheets chemically grafted with polyethylene glycol (PEG) of different molecular weights. Notably, this coating maintains exceptional lubricity across varying external loads (3N ∼ 5N), achieving a low friction coefficient of 0.047 and wear rate of 11.8×10^{- 5} mm³/N·m. The low-friction behavior is primarily attributed to the hierarchical self-adaptive lubrication strategy: MXene deal with low-load friction, while higher loads generated friction is resolved through the phase transition capability of PEG. Theoretical calculation results also proved that frictional heat drives the directional migration of MXene-PEG towards the frictional interface, ensuring self-adaptive interface. Meanwhile, electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements confirmed that the coating exhibits outstanding anti-corrosion performance. This work develops a hierarchical self-adaptive coating based on MXene interlayer sliding and PEG solid-liquid phase transition, enabling the coating to provide reliable anti-corrosion and wear-resistant for equipment under complex alternating load conditions.