Biofouling, settlement of marine organisms in seawater on sea vehicles/submerged structures, can result in a series of drawbacks such as increased fuel consumption, increased carbon emissions, decreased maneuverability and speed, shortened service-life, and transportation of invasive species to non-native locations. Paints that contained tin-based compounds were promising candidates for decades to address biofouling. However, these tin-based formulations were banned worldwide due to their high toxicity and negative effects on marine environments. Therefore, the focus to solve this problem has shifted to a coating that is non-toxic. To this effect, Webster Group developed a hydrophobic fouling-release self-stratifying siloxane-polyurethane coating that offers durability, can be applied on a substrate via one step, and experiences weak/low adherence of many organisms due to its low surface energy. The coating exhibited fouling-release properties comparable or better than the commercial products while withstanding deformations under a higher force load. Since all marine organisms cannot be deterred with a hydrophobic system, there is a necessity to modify the surface properties of the coating by introducing chemical moieties to reach a balance of hydrophilicity and hydrophobicity. Thus, this talk will discuss how a series of polymeric additives were designed, synthesized, and evaluated to attain an amphiphilic balance for the system. The structures of the additives were confirmed with proton nuclear magnetic resonance and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The formulated coatings were characterized by surface analysis techniques such as contact angle and surface energy measurements and atomic force microscopy. Furthermore, coatings were pre-leached in water tanks to ensure residual impurities are removed and then were assessed with marine biological assays including C. Lytica (marine bacterium), N. incerta (diatoms), A. amphitrite (barnacle), and Geukensia demissa (mussel).

Design of polymeric additives to modify properties of marine coatings to combat biofouling

2019 Fall National Meeting

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