Organic coatings are one of the most used and versatile technologies to mitigate corrosion of metals. However, organic coatings are susceptible to defects and damages that may not be easily detected. If not repaired timely, these defects may develop into major coating failures due to corrosion occurring in the damaged region, thereby limiting the lifetime of the to be protected structure. Thus, the development of smart coatings that can accurately identify corrosion location and reliably recover the damage autonomously is of particular interest. Herein, we reported a robust, corrosion-sensing and self-healing coating which incorporated pH-sensitive ZIF-8-capped CaCO3 microcontainers containing the healing agent tung oil (TO) and the corrosion indicator/inhibitor 1,10-phenanthrolin-5-amine (APhen). The spontaneous leakage of incorporated TO and APhen was restrained, and the release initiated when local pH variation occurred. The corrosion protection performance of the coatings implanted with different contents of smart microcontainers were evaluated. The intact epoxy coating containing 7.5 wt% of the microcontainers exhibited the best protection performance with low water absorption (0.65 wt%), low O2 permeability (0.21 × 10–15 cm3 cm cm−2 s−1 Pa−1), and a high storage modulus (3.0 GPa). Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS) measurements in 3.5 wt% NaCl solution demonstrated superior durability of the composite coating after self-healing. The immersion test and neutral salt spray test confirmed the coating can accurately report corrosion sites via coloration.@en

Tungsten disulfide (WS2) has recently attracted considerable attention owing to its excellent physical, chemical, electronic, and optical properties, leading to increased research into its applications in electronic and optoelectronic devices. However, the oxidation of 2D material affects significantly its optical and electronic properties during storage or processing. This study employs density functional theory (DFT) to analyze the effects of natural and thermal oxidation on the optical and electronic properties of WS2 monolayer. First, the climbing-image nudged elastic band (cNEB) method is applied to analyze transitional states and the potential barriers of WS2 oxidation. It reveals that primarily involves the bonding of oxygen atoms with sulfur atoms, whereas thermal oxidation introduces both oxygen substitutions and generates oxygen vacancies. Second, the electron band structures after natural and thermal oxidation are comparably analyzed, which reveals that natural and thermal oxidation both can narrow the bandgap. Lastly, we investigate the optical properties of WS2 monolayer under different oxidation conditions. The results demonstrate that natural oxidation results in weakened light absorption and a blue shift relative to the pristine WS2, whereas thermal oxidation enhances absorption and induces a red shift. These findings underscore the importance of carefully managing oxidation conditions to effectively modulate the optoelectronic properties of WS2.@en