Bio-inspired self-cleaning PAAS hydrogel released coating for marine antifouling

Abstract

In this paper, an antifouling hydrogel coating of slippery hydrogel-released hydrous surface (SHRHS) with the self-cleaning ability of oil-resistance and self-regeneration characters was designed. A physical blending method of loading Sodium polyacrylate (PAAS) powder into the organic silicon resin was employed to prepare the SHRHS coating. The oil-resistance of the intact and scratch SHRHS coatings was performed by time-sequence images of washing dyed beef tallow stain away. The results showed that the SHRHS coating has the greater ability of stain removal. The concentration of Na+ ions released from PAAS hydrogel on the surface of the SHRHS coating was investigated by ion chromatograph (IC). The results revealed that the coating had the ability of self-regeneration by PAAS hydrogel continuously peeling. The biomass of two marine microalgae species, Nitzschia closterium f. minutissima and Navicula climacospheniae Booth attached on the SHRHS was investigated using UV–Visible Spectrophotometer (UV) and Scanning electron microscopy (SEM). The results showed that the microalgaes attached a significantly lower numbers on the SHRHS in comparison with the organic silicon coating. In order to confirm the antifouling ability of the SHRHS coating, the field trials were carried out for 12weeks. It showed that the SHRHS may provide an effective attachment resistance to reduce biofouling.