investigating the barrier effect of mxene nanosheets decorated with different 0d nanospheres in epoxy coatings

In this research, mxene nanosheets are decorated with different zero dimensional (0d) nano-spheres for application as nanohybrid filler in epoxy coatings. graphene quantum dots (gqds), zinc oxide quantum dots (zno qds), and silica nanoparticles (sio2 nps) are the 0d nano-spheres used for decorating on the mxene nanosheets. the synthesized nanohybrids are characterized by x-ray diffraction, x-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and transmission electron microscopy to study their structural and morphological behavior. further, the nanohybrids are loaded at 0.1 weight percent into the epoxy matrix by solution mixing approach, and the epoxy nanocomposite mixture is coated on pre-cleaned steel substrates. the corrosion protection performance of coatings is considered by electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. the results indicate that the low-frequency impedance modulus of epoxy coatings loaded with mxene@gqds, mxene@zno qds, and mxene@sio2 is 7.4 × 108, 1.4 × 108, and 3.5 × 106 ω.cm2 after 35 days of immersion in the 3.5 wt.% nacl solution, respectively. meanwhile, the water contact angle on the prepared coatings is 106, 112, and 88 °, and the adhesion strength is 6.1, 4.4, and 4.8 mpa, respectively, which are significantly higher than that of neat epoxy samples. theis study shows that the structure and morphology of decorating nanoparticles are important parameters affecting the agglomeration tendency and barrier effect of mxene nanosheets in polymer coatings.