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.

Polymer film coating with a highly hydrophobic surface property is a practical approach to prevent fouling of any structures in the marine environment without affecting marine microorganisms. The preparation of a polymer coating, from a simple and easy method of solution blending of hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane elastomer and hydrophilic polyurethane with SiO2, was carried out in this study, with the aim of improving characteristics, and the coating demonstrated economic feasibility for antifouling application. Incorporation of SiO2 particles into PDMS and PDMS/PU polymer film improved mechanical properties of the film and the support fabrication of micropatterns by means of a soft lithography process. Observations from field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM) of the PDMS/SiO2 composite film revealed a homogeneous morphology and even dispersion of the SiO2 disperse phase between 1–5 wt.%. Moreover, the PDMS film with 3 wt.% loading of SiO2 considerably increased WCA to 115.7° ± 2.5° and improved mechanical properties by increasing Young’s modulus by 128%, compared with neat PDMS film. Additionally, bonding strength between barnacles and the PDMS film with 3 wt.% of SiO2 loading was 0.16 MPa, which was much lower than the bonding strength between barnacles and the reference carbon steel of 1.16 MPa. When compared to the previous study using PDMS/PU blend (95:5), the count of barnacles of PDMS with 3 wt.% SiO2 loading was lower by 77% in the two-week field tests and up to 97% in the eight-week field tests. Subsequently, when PDMS with 3 wt.% SiO2 was further blended with PU, and the surface modified by the soft lithography process, it was found that PDMS/PU (95:5) with 3 wt.% SiO2 composite film with micropatterns increased WCA to 122.1° ± 2.9° and OCA 90.8 ± 3.6°, suggesting that the PDMS/PU (95:5) with 3 wt.% SiO2 composite film with surface modified by the soft lithography process could be employed for antifouling application.

Mesoporous water adsorbent materials were prepared by high internal phase emulsion (HIPE) technique: a technique which used aqueous phase (water phase) as a temporary template (in the form of droplets) and oil phase (polymer phase) as a continuous structure. This research describes the preparation of porous poly[S/ethylene glycol dimethylacrylate (EGDMA)]HIPE from styrene crosslinked with EGDMA. Effects of chemical composition on the pores of the mesoporous adsorbents were investigated. The EGDMA concentration was varied between 0 and 40% of oil phase by total volume to give polyHIPE with various amounts of hydroxyl groups. Effects of oil: aqueous phase ratio on mesoporous adsorbent polyHIPEs resulted in interconnected pores in their morphology. The EGDMA concentration also affected the obtained polyHIPE morphology. The water adsorption of poly(S/EGDMA)HIPE gave high water adsorption, up to 350% of dry weight. The obtained polyHIPE with large average pore size were also found to give high water adsorption capacity. © 2017 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J. Appl. Polym. Sci. 2017, 134, 45509.

To reduce environmental threats, such as land filling, incineration and soil pollution, which are associated with the improper waste management of waste printed circuit boards, the utilization of NMPCBs from waste PCBs as a filler in composites was pursued. Untreated and treated NMPCBs in varying ratios, 10–30 wt.%, were blended with PVC to produce NMPCB/PVC composites, using the melt-mixing method via an internal mixer, in order to solve the remaining NMPCB waste problem after the valuable metals in PCBs were recovered. The incorporation of the NMPCB with PVC resulted in an increase in the tensile modulus and the thermal stability of the resulting composites. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) results indicated improved interfacial adhesion between the treated NMPCB and the PVC matrix. The FTIR results of the NMPCB treated with 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane (GPTMS) revealed the formation of Si-O-Si bonds. The densities of the composites were found to increase with an increase in the content of the treated NMPCB, and compatibility improved. The tensile properties of the treated NMPCB/PVC composites were higher than those of the untreated NMPCB/PVC composites, suggesting improved compatibility between the treated NMPCB and PVC. The PVC composite with 10 wt.% of the treated NMPCB showed the optimum tensile properties. It was observed that the tensile modulus of the treated NMPCB/PVC composite increased by 47.65% when compared to that of the neat PVC. The maximum thermal degradation temperature was 27 °C higher than that of the neat PVC. Dynamic mechanical analysis results also support the improved interfacial adhesion as a result of the improvement in the storage modulus at the glassy region, and the loss factor (tan δ) peak shifted to a higher temperature range than that of the PVC and the untreated NMPCB/PVC composite. These studies reveal that the NMPCB was successfully modified with 1 wt.% of GPTMS, which promoted the dispersion and interfacial adhesion in the PVC matrix, resulting in better tensile properties and better thermal stability of the PVC composite.

Highly open, porous polymer or poly(high internal phase emulsion) (polyHIPE) obtained from polymerized high internal phase emulsions (HIPE) have recently attracted much attention and increasing interest in tissue engineering applications because of their excellent properties. This research is aimed at preparing and developing a process for producing polyHIPE for use as a scaffold in tissue engineering applications. Poly(styrene/ethylene glycol dimethacrylate) (poly(S/EGDMA)) loaded with hydroxyapatite was used to prepare the polyHIPE. Further improvement on hydrophilicity and biological response to tissue fluids of the polyHIPE porous polymer was carried out using a nanolayer coating via the layer-by-layer polyelectrolyte multilayer (PEM) technique. Three types of chemicals were used for coating on the surface of the polyHIPE porous polymer such as poly(sodium 4-styrene sulfonate) (PSS), gelatin (GEL), and alginic acid (ALG). The change in surface properties of the modified poly(S/EGDMA)HIPE was characterized by UV-visible spectroscopy and contact angle measurement. Further assessments consisted of cytotoxicity testing, cell attachment, and proliferation of L929, fibroblast-like cells that were seeded on the surface of the polyHIPE porous polymer. A three-dimensional structure poly(S/EGDMA)HIPE porous polymer with high porosity was successfully prepared. Moreover, it was found that surface modification encouraged poly(S/EGDMA)HIPE with a hydrophilic nanolayer, as observed by the decrease in contact angle degree and cell adhesion of L929 fibroblast-like cells, indicating that the poly(S/EGDMA)HIPE porous polymer was effectively improved by using the layer-by-layer technique. It was revealed by MTT assay that the poly(S/EGDMA)HIPE porous polymer coated with a nanolayer of a polyelectrolyte multilayer led to an enhancement in the amount of cell adhesion and proliferation on the modified poly(S/EGDMA)HIPE porous polymer. Additionally, the most effective polyelectrolyte solution for improving cell adhesion of the poly(S/EGDMA)HIPE was PSS.