Abstract
Fe-based amorphous coatings with outstanding corrosion resistance are promise for marine applications. However, these coatings encounter a great challenge of biofouling in marine environments. Inspired by the unique micro-nano hierarchical structure of shark skin with excellent antifouling properties, in this paper, we construct a bioinspired Fe-based amorphous coating with killing-resisting dual-effect via proper surface modifications, i.e., the modification with micro-patterned nanostructured Cu2O fibers (killing effect), followed by the modification with superhydrophobic surface (resisting effect). As a result, the modified amorphous coating exhibits impressive antifouling properties, achieving 98.6% resistance to Nitzschia closterium f. minutissima, 87% resistance to Bovine serum albumin protein and 99.8% resistance to Pseudomonas aeruginosa, respectively. The remarkable antifouling performance is attributed to a synergistic antifouling mechanism from both resisting effect and killing effect, wherein the superhydrophobic surface provides a barrier to resist protein adsorption, while the patterned nanostructured Cu2O fibers supply Cu+ ions to kill bacterial cells. In addition, the modified amorphous coating also exhibits excellent mechanical robustness, which ensures the durability of the Fe-based amorphous coating in practical services. This work may promote the development of new durable metal-based coatings integrated with anti-fouling and anti-corrosion properties.
Highlights
Marine fouling, termed as the colonization on submerged surfaces by marine micro-organisms, has been a longstanding global problem[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]
For the first approach, the uncontrollable release rate of biocides and the accumulation of the dead bacteria or proteins significantly reduces the antifouling efficiency[10]; for the second approach, the poor mechanical robustness of the modified surfaces leads to the loss of the anti-fouling functions due to wear or impact[11,12]
One representative example is from shark skin, which has intrinsically a unique micro-nano hierarchical structure, and enables to continuously release lubricating and antifouling mucus, so shark shin demonstrates excellent antifouling properties[30]
Summary
Marine fouling, termed as the colonization on submerged surfaces by marine micro-organisms, has been a longstanding global problem[1,2,3,4,5,6,7]. Fouling by marine micro-organisms is affected by various aspects of materials, including chemical composition, wettability, surface charge, roughness and surface mechanical properties (i.e., elastic modulus)[29]. Modification towards these aspects allows us to modulate the antifouling properties of the materials. Inspired by the natural characters of shark skin (Fig. 1a), in this work, we designed and fabricated a novel bioinspired antifouling Fe-based amorphous coating surface via dual surface-modifications, i.e., the modification with micro-patterned nanostructured C u2O fibers, followed by the modification with a superhydrophobic layer, which endows the Fe-based amorphous coating with both killing and resisting functionality, significantly enhance the antifouling properties
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