| AVS 58th Annual International Symposium and Exhibition | |
| Marine Biofouling Focus Topic | Monday Sessions |
| Session MB+BI+PS-MoA |
| Session: | Marine Antifouling Coatings |
| Presenter: | Ângela Serrano, SuSoS AG, Switzerland |
| Authors: | A. Serrano, SuSoS AG, Switzerland S. Zürcher, SuSoS AG, Switzerland S. Tosatti, SuSoS AG, Switzerland N.D. Spencer, ETH Zurich, Switzerland |
| Correspondent: | Click to Email |
Marine surfaces are known to accumulate fouling material through the starting point of adhesion and settlement of proteins and cells. This effect can be manipulated through the modification and control of the substrate properties via surface functionalization. This approach has led to successful anti-fouling coatings based on biocidal agents containing copper or zinc compounds[1,2]. The environmental toxicity of these latter materials, however, has increased the demand for less adverse coatings. The use of ultra-thin films consisting of polymer brushes has been considered a promising alternative and many studies have been published in this field[3,4]. None, however, has focused on developing a protocol that allows a reliable comparison between the efficiency of different well-known anti-fouling polymers. This is one of the aims of this work and has been achieved by using a common, azide-terminated monolayer to which different non-fouling polymers, such as PEG, PEOXA, PVP and PVA, have been covalently bound. The different materials were compared by characterizing the structure-property relationship of the formed polymeric brushes. Also investigated was the role of the solvent used in the anti-fouling polymer solution as a key element to better control the surface homogeneity. A thorough analysis of the influence of this parameter on the conformation of the final polymer brush was based on ellipsometry, XPS and imaging ToF-SIMS. Finally, the anti-fouling surfaces were subjected to a comparative biological study by exposure to complex proteins solution and Ulva zoospores, in order to validate the developed protocol.
References:
[1] Magin, C.M.; Cooper, S.P.; Brennan, A.B., Materials Today, 2010, 13, 36-44.
[2] Chambers, L.D.; Stokes, K.R.; Walsh, F.C.; Wood, R.J.K., Surface & Coatings Technology, 2006, 201, 3642-3652.
[3] Banerjee, I.; Pangule, R.C.; Kane, R.S., Advanced Materials, 2011, 23, 690-718.
[4] Krishnan, S.; Weinman, C.J.; Ober, C.K.; Journal of Materials Chemistry, 2008, 18, 3405-3413.