Fluoropolymer grafted Ti₃C₂T_x MXene as an efficient lubricant additive for fluorine-containing lubricating oil

As a typical two-dimensional (2D) material, Ti₃C₂T_x MXene has evolved to be a potential candidate for lubricant additives. However, it usually fails to achieve desirable lubricity as oil additives due to the poor interfacial compatibility caused by surface hydrophilicity. Especially, MXene shows a very poor dispersity in fluorine-containing lubricating oils. To circumvent this limitation, in this work, one kind of fluoropolymer was employed to modify the surface of MXene for synthesizing a fluorinated MXene, which could be dispersed very well in fluorine-containing lubricating oils based on the principle of “like dissolves like”. Concretely, Poly[2-(Perfluorooctyl)ethyl methacrylate)] (PPFMA) grafted Ti₃C₂T_x MXene (PPFMA-g-Ti₃C₂T_x) were prepared as fluorinated lubricant additives for perfluoropolyether (PFPE). Due to the interlayer slippage and good dispersibility, this fluorinated modified MXene improved anti-friction and anti-wear property of PFPE between steel/steel contact. Looking beyond, the addition of fluorinated additives into fluorine-containing lubricating oils will play an important role in the field of lubricating oil.