Ultrathin polymers to enhance antifouling performances
Haunted by marine biofouling and the ecological crisis caused by toxic antifouling paints, the demand for environmental coatings has become more and more pressing. A series of super-structural 2D ultrathin carbon nitride/acrylate boron silane polymers (CNPs) was prepared by incorporating C3N4 into a self-polishing acrylate boron silane polymer (ABSP). The environmental performances were evaluated and the antifouling mechanism was investigated.
Environmental coatings
The results showed that when the content of C3N4 was 3–7 wt%, the coatings showed the best resistance to diatoms, Staphylococcus aureus and Escherichia coli in visible light. It was noted that the coatings showed weak antibacterial properties in the dark. In addition, the CNPs and ABSP were shown to expel mussels by photocatalytic active species, self-renewal and amphiphilic surfaces. The chemical oxygen demand (COD) values showed that the addition of C3N4 made the CNPs become environmental coatings.
The study has been published in Journal of Coatings Technology and Research, Volume 18, 2021.