Abstract
A key way to prevent undesirable fouling of any structure in the marine environment, without harming any microorganisms, is to use a polymer film with high hydrophobicity. The polymer film, which was simply prepared from a blend of hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane elastomer and hydrophilic polyurethane, showed improved properties and economic viability for antifouling film for the marine industry. The field emission scanning electron microscope and energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (FESEM and EDX) results from the polymer blend suggested a homogenous morphology and good distribution of the polyurethane disperse phase. The PDMS:PU blend (95:5) film gave a water contact angle of 103.4° ± 3.8° and the PDMS film gave a water contact angle of 109.5° ± 4.2°. Moreover, the PDMS:PU blend (95:5) film could also be modified with surface patterning by using soft lithography process to further increase the hydrophobicity. It was found that PDMS:PU blend (95:5) film with micro patterning from soft lithography process increased the contact angle to 128.8° ± 1.6°. The results from a field test in the Gulf of Thailand illustrated that the bonding strength between the barnacles and the PDMS:PU blend (95:5) film (0.07 MPa) were lower than the bonding strength between the barnacles and the carbon steel (1.16 MPa). The barnacles on the PDMS:PU blend (95:5) film were more easily removed from the surface. This indicated that the PDMS:PU blend (95:5) exhibited excellent antifouling properties and the results indicated that the PDMS:PU blend (95:5) film with micro patterning surface could be employed for antifouling application.
Highlights
The surfaces of buildings and boats in marine environments tend to accumulate high concentrations of fouling attachments of a micro–macro organism biofilm
The surface characteristics of the polymer film, measured by water contact angle (WCA), should be greater than 90◦, which is characteristic of hydrophobic surfaces
This was because the seawater contained microorganisms such as bacteria, The applicability of polymer films for antifouling products is based on the bond fungi, algae and plankton
Summary
The surfaces of buildings and boats in marine environments tend to accumulate high concentrations of fouling attachments of a micro–macro organism biofilm This is the major cause of damages to structures and equipment in a marine environment [1]. Neat PDMS fabricated on micro-patterning from soft lithography was easy to collapse under external forces (Van der Waals force) [24]. To solve this problem, in this paper, polyurethane with non-toxic, non-flammable, environmentally friendly, economic manufacturing and good mechanical properties [25] was blended with PDMS to produce an antifouling film. The performance of the PDMS:PU blend on antifouling performance and its ability for use in soft lithography to achieve higher hydrophobicity were studied [26]
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