Abstract
Ecological considerations strongly necessitate the development of environmentally friendly antifouling paints. A promising alternative to biocide containing antifouling paints are fouling-release coatings, which are non-toxic and designed to prevent permanent attachment of marine organisms to the surface, due to their low surface energy. However, these coatings suffer from insufficient mechanical properties, which make them unsuitable for mechanically stressed surfaces e.g., on ship hulls. To overcome those obstacles, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)-polythiourethane (PTU) composites modified with tetrapodal shaped micro-nano ZnO particles (t-ZnO) were produced and characterized by evaluating the surface energy, mechanical properties, and fouling-release performance. Among all variations, PTU/1 wt.% PDMS composites with 1 wt.% t-ZnO particles possess superior properties for applications as fouling-release coatings for maritime purposes.
Highlights
The undesired growth of marine organisms on surfaces subjected to water is generally known as biofouling, and as it brings along several ecological and economical drawbacks, it represents one of the major challenges in the marine industry [1,2,3]
PDMS content, except for the addition of 1 wt.% PDMS, which caused a slight increase in tensile strength of around 7%, and a stronger increase in elongation at fracture at more than 20%
To give an explanation on the increase in elongation at fracture and the maintained tensile at low PDMS amounts, it can be assumed that the elastic deformation of the composite material is strength at low PDMS amounts, it can be assumed that the elastic deformation of the composite dominated by the mechanical properties of the PTU matrix, while the plastic deformation is already material is dominated by the mechanical properties of the PTU matrix, while the plastic deformation strongly influenced by the high elasticity of the PDMS component [41]
Summary
The undesired growth of marine organisms on surfaces subjected to water is generally known as biofouling, and as it brings along several ecological and economical drawbacks, it represents one of the major challenges in the marine industry [1,2,3]. As a mechanically durable polymeric matrix, thermoset polyurethanes (PU) offer great potential, due to their highly cross-linked structure, which results in high tensile strength as well as enhanced abrasion resistance [30] Due to these properties, PU is a well-established material for ship hull coatings, but with a crucial lack of antifouling properties [31]. The aim of this work is to develop a fouling-release coating with superior mechanical properties, applicable to large-scale objects like ship hulls and submerged maritime structures For this reason, a polymer blend, based on a highly durable PTU matrix polymer, reinforced by t-ZnO particles in combination with one-component silicone elastomer, was produced and investigated.
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