Human‐Skin‐Inspired Structural Decoupling for Constructing Ultra‐Stable and Infrared Stealth MXene/PFOTS Coatings

ABSTRACT Developing multifunctional materials that integrate exceptional infrared (IR) stealth with long‐term environmental stability remains a formidable challenge. Inspired by the synergistic function of human skin hair and sweat glands, we report a hydrophobic, highly conductive, and anti‐oxidant IR stealth material (P‐MXene). Perfluorooctyl long chains are covalently grafted onto MXene surfaces to form “molecular hairs”, creating a robust hydrophobic boundary layer via steric hindrance that passivates reactive ‐OH groups without disrupting high‐density conductive pathways. Consequently, P‐MXene maintains a high electrical conductivity of 2074.58 S cm − 1 even after 40 days of accelerated oxidation, while its water contact angle increases to 135.6 ° alongside an ultra‐low IR emissivity of 0.125. Leveraging a continuous coating process, large‐scale fabrication of flexible P‐MXene fabrics (3 m × 0.5 m) was successfully achieved. The resulting fabrics exhibit excellent spatial uniformity (2.2–2.8 µm thickness, 22–27 Ω surface resistance) and remarkable mechanical durability, showing less than 5% resistance change after 5,000 bending cycles. Furthermore, the covalent grafting ensures robust wearability, retaining high hydrophobicity and IR stealth performance after 40 washing cycles and 100 severe friction cycles, demonstrating great potential for large‐area flexible wearables.

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Publication Details

Journal
Advanced Functional Materials
Published
2026-08-20
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/adfm.77813
Primary Topic
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Human‐Skin‐Inspired Structural Decoupling for Constructing Ultra‐Stable and Infrared Stealth MXene/PFOTS Coatings

Jian‐Hua Xu, Jiajia An, Jiajun Fu, Qiang Wang et al.
Advanced Functional Materials
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
article

Human‐Skin‐Inspired Structural Decoupling for Constructing Ultra‐Stable and Infrared Stealth MXene/PFOTS Coatings

Jian‐Hua Xu, Jiajia An, Jiajun Fu, Qiang Wang, HanYi Li
article en

Abstract

ABSTRACT Developing multifunctional materials that integrate exceptional infrared (IR) stealth with long‐term environmental stability remains a formidable challenge. Inspired by the synergistic function of human skin hair and sweat glands, we report a hydrophobic, highly conductive, and anti‐oxidant IR stealth material (P‐MXene). Perfluorooctyl long chains are covalently grafted onto MXene surfaces to form “molecular hairs”, creating a robust hydrophobic boundary layer via steric hindrance that passivates reactive ‐OH groups without disrupting high‐density conductive pathways. Consequently, P‐MXene maintains a high electrical conductivity of 2074.58 S cm − 1 even after 40 days of accelerated oxidation, while its water contact angle increases to 135.6 ° alongside an ultra‐low IR emissivity of 0.125. Leveraging a continuous coating process, large‐scale fabrication of flexible P‐MXene fabrics (3 m × 0.5 m) was successfully achieved. The resulting fabrics exhibit excellent spatial uniformity (2.2–2.8 µm thickness, 22–27 Ω surface resistance) and remarkable mechanical durability, showing less than 5% resistance change after 5,000 bending cycles. Furthermore, the covalent grafting ensures robust wearability, retaining high hydrophobicity and IR stealth performance after 40 washing cycles and 100 severe friction cycles, demonstrating great potential for large‐area flexible wearables.

Advanced Functional Materials
Nanjing University of Science and Technology (CN), Nanjing University (CN)
Natural Science Foundation of Jiangsu Province, Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities
Openalex Percentile: Top 18%
Advanced Sensor and Energy Harvesting Materials
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