The accumulation of microorganisms, plants, and animals on underwater surfaces, has been a hindrance to seafaring vessels for centuries.  In addition to high costs from increased fuel consumption, removal of these fouling agents is also a severe economic burden.  Increasing regulations of traditional marine coatings have put emphasis on alternative coating systems that are environmentally benign. In this work, quaternary ammonium salts have been incorporated into low surface energy polymer backbones to provide an active antimicrobial defense mechanism.  Furthermore, hydrolysable moieties have been incorporated into these polymers in order to provide �renewable� antimicrobial activity to the coating system as the coating slowly erodes in a controlled manner.  Because of the extended lifetime and slow hydrolysis rate of these systems, a unique method of monitoring hydrolysis was developed.   Synthesis, characterization, and hydrolysis kinetics of these systems will be discussed.

Development and surface analysis of novel environmentally benign marine coatings

243rd National Meeting (2012)

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