Abstract
Fouling is a ubiquitous and longstanding challenge that causes both economic and environmental problems, especially for underwater detection equipment, as fouling directly limits the normal services and functions of such equipment. Therefore, it is necessary to develop coatings with high transparency and good antifouling performance. Herein, a novel zwitterion compound was synthesized, and an antifouling coating with excellent comprehensive properties was prepared by integrating 3-[[3-(triethoxysilyl)-propyl] amino] propane-1-sulfonic acid (TPAPS) into polyvinyl butyral (PVB) polymer, which possesses excellent mechanical properties and transparency. The physical and chemical, mechanical, and antifouling properties, and the light transmittance of the coating were characterized by the SEM, FT-IR, XPS, UV-VIS. The results show that the coating had good mechanical properties and adhesion to the substrate, and the strong hydration ability of TPAPS endowed the coating with excellent resistance to oil stains and biofouling. More importantly, the structure of the coating was homogenous and its surface roughness was very little, which imparted the coating with high transmittance. This research provides a facile approach for synthesizing high-transparency materials with excellent antifouling and mechanical properties.
Highlights
Marine biofouling is a major problem shared among all maritime sectors employing submerged surfaces [1], and is especially serious for maritime detection equipment, such as sensors, detection windows and optical instruments [2,3,4]
When detection equipment is immersed in seawater for a long time, oil stain and biological contaminants adhere to its surfaces, leading to substantially lowered operational lifespans, and loss of function if poorly addressed [5,6]
For the other coatings (PVB-10%TPAPS and polyvinyl butyral (PVB)-10%TPAPS), transmittance saw a slight decline, they remained in their initial state, and the characters written to the background behind the coating was still legible; these results indicate that very good light transmittance and water resistance of the coatings was achieved by adjusting their TPAPS content
Summary
Marine biofouling is a major problem shared among all maritime sectors employing submerged surfaces [1], and is especially serious for maritime detection equipment, such as sensors, detection windows and optical instruments [2,3,4]. Organization (IMO) completely prohibited their extensive use in the marine antifouling coatings in 2008 [9,10]; marine antifouling research has been developed toward to environmentally friendly and nontoxic technologies, and antifouling coatings that are free of biocides have been extensively explored due their many advantages (unique fouling resistance, appropriate mechanical properties and other functional applications) in antifouling fields [11,12] Among of these coatings, hydrophilic coatings have aroused intensive interesting for the feasibility of their preparation and the wide application for their strong antifouling properties [13,14,15]. Zhou et al prepared a series of semi-interpenetrating polymer networks to study the contribution of their charges to marine antifouling [24] Their poor mechanical properties, loss of light transmittance and difficulty in large-scale preparation seriously limits the application of hydrophilic materials in maritime inspection. Modifying suitable polymers is a promising alternative for solving the above problems, due to their unique compositions and properties
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