Abstract
Bacterial colonization of surfaces is the leading cause of deterioration and contaminations. Fouling and bacterial settlement led to damaged coatings, allowing microorganisms to fracture and reach the inner section. Therefore, effective treatment of surface damaged material is helpful to detach bio-settlement from the surface and prevent deterioration. Moreover, surface coatings can withdraw biofouling and bacterial colonization due to inherent biomaterial characteristics, such as superhydrophobicity, avoiding bacterial resistance. Fouling was a past problem, yet its untargeted toxicity led to critical environmental concerns, and its use became forbidden. As a response, research shifted focus approaching a biocompatible alternative such as exciting developments in antifouling and antibacterial solutions and assessing their antifouling and antibacterial performance and practical feasibility. This review introduces state-of-the-art antifouling and antibacterial materials and solutions for several applications. In particular, this paper focuses on antibacterial and antifouling agents for concrete and cultural heritage conservation, antifouling sol–gel-based coatings for filtration membrane technology, and marine protection and textile materials for biomedicine. In addition, this review discusses the innovative synthesis technologies of antibacterial and antifouling solutions and the consequent socio-economic implications. The synthesis and the related physico-chemical characteristics of each solution are discussed. In addition, several characterization techniques and different parameters that influence the surface finishing coatings deposition were also described.
Highlights
Fouling is an undesirable phenomenon where macromolecules, microorganisms, or suspended particles adhere to surface materials
A poly(ether sulfone) (PES) membrane was coated via a dip-coating process with tannic acid (TA), Ag+ ions in situ were reduced by the TA layer, and a zwitterionic polymer was obtained via the quaternarization between polyethyleneimine (PEI) and 1,3-propane sulfonate
Another example is represented by a bio-inspired superhydrophilic nanocomposite membrane, consisting of a polyvinylidene fluoride (PVDF) membrane coated with a facile and eco-friendly process by polydopamine anchored SiO2
Summary
Fouling is an undesirable phenomenon where macromolecules, microorganisms, or suspended particles adhere to surface materials. Achieving an effective fouling control method remains a significant challenge in several applications, induced by the reduced mechanical stability and/or short-term antifouling stability of existing antifouling coatings The latter is partially associated with the great variety of foulants living inside the system of interest. Producing a micro or nanostructure on top of the surface can reduce the chances of attachment, limiting foulant adhesion and promoting the eventual removal of foulants This antifouling approach facilitates both fouling resistant and fouling-release coating solutions [2]. (a) The thin coating ensures excellent adhesion between the substrate and the top layer; (b) Protection against corrosion; (c) Simple, economic, and efficient production; (d) Highly controlled composition The production of these materials employed for several applications presents disadvantages:. An antibacterial and antifouling solution to enhance technical achievability should satisfy diverse specifications: long-term durability, strength, eco-friendliness, and large-scale applicability, which can be exploited by the use of different innovative approaches such as PEG-based antifouling surfaces [15], systems that incorporate polymer brushes based on amphiphilic copolymers [16], zwitterionic polymers [17,18] and polyionic liquids [19], or exploiting the advanced properties of micro/nano structural surfaces [20]
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