Amphiphilic polymers as new fouling-release coatings
Researchers have prepared and evaluated amphiphilic polymers as fouling-release coatings in marine environment.
Polystyrene-polybutadiene-polystyrene (SBS), vinyl fluoride silicone (BD-FT-LSR) and polyethylene glycol were chosen as reactors to synthesise amphiphilic polymer which was used to prepare a new type of fouling-release coating.
Very good antifouling performance
To evaluate the performance of the coating, artificial and real-sea environment tests were carried out. Results show that the new amphiphilic fouling-release coating has a very good antifouling performance and can be re-cleaned after 6 months of testing in the real-sea environment. These can be explained through hydrophilic PEG migrating to the surface to form a comb-type structure which reduces the adhesion strength of fouling organisms that can then be self-cleaned by flow from the surface of coatings.
The study is published in: Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, November 2017, Volume 14, Issue 6.
