Abstract
Advances in harmful organism management are highly demanding due to the toxicity of conventional coating approaches. Exploiting biomimetic superhydrophobicity could be a promising alternative on account of its cost-effectiveness and eco-friendliness. Here, we introduce a facile method to fabricate a robust superhydrophobic coating on a fabric substrate. This is achieved by sequentially spraying TiO2-epoxy resin nanocomposite material and fluorocarbon-silane modified SiO2 nanoparticles (FC-silane SiO2 NPs). The superhydrophobicity is attributed to the nanoparticles constituting a micro/nano hierarchical structure and the fluorocarbon of the modified SiO2 NPs lowering the surface energy. The epoxy resin embedded in the coating layer plays an important role in improving the robustness. The robustness of the superhydrophobic surface is demonstrated by measuring the water slide angle of surfaces that are subject to salty water at 500 rpm stirring condition for up to 13 days. This study focuses on ensuring the superhydrophobicity and robustness of the coating surface, which is preliminary work for the practical management of macrofoulers. Based on this work, we will perform practical harmful organism management in seawater as a second research subject.
Highlights
The introduction of alien or invasive species, such as microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals, into land or water ecosystems has been recognized as a major problem since the last century [1]
This is because the fabrication of a superhydrophobic surface is based on the two-step process in which the TiO2-epoxy nanocomposite solution was first sprayed on the substrate, and after 3 h curing time the second coating material with FC-silane SiO2 NPs was applied on the first coating layer
In the absence of the TiO2 NPs, the flexibility of the fabric substrate was completely lost. This is because the epoxy resin totally filled inside pores between fabrics and formed a continuous epoxy film, which is opposed to the TiO2-epoxy nanocomposite sample
Summary
The introduction of alien or invasive species, such as microorganisms, plants, algae, or small animals, into land or water ecosystems has been recognized as a major problem since the last century [1]. Biofouling causes many problems in aquaculture such as fouling on infrastructure (cages, netting, pontoons, and buoys) and stock species (farmed species including mussels, scallops, oysters, and fishes) [8] These macrofoulers can increase the fuel consumption of a ship and sailing time with its attendant costs [9]. Residues of the antifouling paint could be generated and exposed to sediment layers in aquatic systems, which eventually leads to a potential threat to benthic invertebrates [14] Another conventional method for the antifouling effect is to coat antifouling substances based on copper and/or organotin compounds [15]. The evaluation results prove the sufficient robustness of the surface for real harmful organism management
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
