• Laser cladding successfully fabricated TiC/Ti2AlC core-shell reinforced Ti-based composite coatings, with optimal core-shell structure at 20% Ti2AlC content.
• The core-shell structure forms via Al diffusion from Ti2AlC to TiC, enabling in-situ synthesis and avoiding defects like porosity.
• The composite coating exhibited significantly improved wear resistance: friction coefficient reduced to 0.342 and wear rate dropped to 47.07% of TC4 substrate.
• This work provides a novel approach to design tough, wear-resistant coatings for titanium alloys, leveraging MAX phase decomposition.