Marine inspired textured materials for reduction of biofouling on surfaces

Abstract

Biofouling on deployed in-situ sensors without regular removal or cleaning can disrupt sensor data collected. The current replacement antifouling (AF) materials under development are largely unsuited to sensor technologies as they have been developed with large scale applications in mind, such as those required by the shipping industry. Therefore, a strategy for the development of novel, sustainable, antifouling materials for sensor applications is required. Bio-inspiration refers to adapting strategies already developed in the natural world to problems encountered in modern science and technology. Engineered surfaces capable of controlling cellular behaviour under natural conditions are challenging to design due to the diversity of attaching cell types in environments such as marine waters, where many variations in cell shape, size and adhesion strategy exist. Nevertheless, understanding interactions between a cell and a potential substrate for adhesion, including topographically driven settlement cues, offers a route to designing surfaces capable of controlling cell settlement. Biomimetic design of artificial surfaces, based upon microscale features from natural surfaces, can be utilized as model surfaces to understand cell-surface interactions. In this study it was hypothesized that an AF effect could be induced through the replication of a synthetic surface. In this paper, the potential of biomimetic antifouling materials for application in the environment is discussed. We outline strategies for the identification and production of novel biomimetic antifouling approaches and discuss the pitfalls of developing antifouling materials based on biomimetic design.