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Biofouling on metal surfaces is one of the main reasons for increased ship drag. Many methods have already been used to reduce or remove it with moderate success. In this study, a synthetic peptide has been utilized to react with 304 stainless steel aiming to generate a bioorganic stainless steel using a facile technique. After the reaction, white matter was found on the surface of the treated stainless steel via SEM, whilst the nontreated stainless steel had none. Elemental analysis confirmed that excessive N existed on the surface of the treated samples using an integrated SEM-EDS instrument, implying the presence of peptides binding on the surface of the bioorganic stainless steel. The FTIR spectra showed amide A and II peaks on the surface of the bioorganic stainless steel suggesting that either the peptides grafted onto the steel surface or the polypeptide composition accumulated on the steel samples. XPS analysis of the treated steel demonstrated that there was nitrogen bonding on the surface and it was a chemical bond via a previously unreported chemical interaction. The treated steel has a markedly increased contact angle (water contact angle of 65.7 AE 4.7 for nontreated steel in comparison to treated, 96.4 AE 2.1 ), which supported the observation of the wettability change of the surface, i.e. the decrease of the surface energy value after peptide treatment. The changes of the surface parameters (such as, S a , S q , S sk and S ku ) of the treated steel by surface analysis were observed.

Novel organic-inorganic hybrid membranes, based on poly(2,6-dimethyl-1,4-phenylene oxide), have been prepared through 1,2-dimethylimidazole functional groups and double crosslinking agents including 3-glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane and tetraethyl orthosilicate by sol-gel process for the purpose of improving the conductivity and alkaline resistance. The structure of membranes was characterized using Fourier-transform infrared spectra, 1 H NMR, and X-ray diffraction. The physico-chemical properties of all membranes were shown in ion exchange capacity, water uptake, stability, and conductivity. Membranes with OHconductivity up to 0.022 at 25 8C and 0.036 S cm 21 at 80 8C. Promisingly, the chemical stability of the resulting membranes remains unchanged after storage in 2 mol dm 23 KOH at 25 8C over at least 10 days. The tensile strength can be higher than 30 MPa, and the elongation at break (Eb) is in the range 6.68-10.84%. Hence, this hybrid membrane can be potentially applied in alkaline fuel cells.

Biofouling seriously affects the properties and service life of metal materials.

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