Copper oxide-clay composites with sub-micrometer-sized particles
In a recently published study, scientists prepared Cu2O-clay composites with sub-micrometer-sized Cu2O particles for marine antifouling paints.
Because of the enlarged specific surface area, utilisation of Cu2O particles with smaller sizes is a potential way to improve the AF efficiency and lower the Cu2O content. In a new paper, the clay, commonly applied as filler in the paint, was previously used to control the concentration of free Cu2+ during the synthesis of Cu2O.
Decrease of particle size
With the help of clay, the size of obtained Cu2O particles decreased from 750 to 460 nm. It has been shown that the smaller-sized Cu2O can work against the marine biofouling with a lower content (15 wt%) compared to the commercial microsized Cu2O (40 wt%) in the 260 days of marine AF field tests.
The study is published in: Journal of Coatings Technology and Research January 2019, Volume 16, Issue 1, pp 25–30.
