Developing an Effective and Durable Film for Marine Fouling Prevention from PDMS/SiO2 and PDMS/PU with SiO2 Composites

Abstract

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.

Nanocoating toward anti‐corrosion: A review

“…combined rough electrodeposited 14SiO 2 (E‐SiO 2 ) films, possessing low energy, and durable PDMS aiming to mechanical durability of superhydrophobic surfaces. [ 43 ] The resulting substrate showed morphologies unchanged after being subjected to 40 cycles of abrasion, which was then concluded that PDMS modifier with low surface energy played a significant role in improvement of mechanical stability. For steel coatings, a composite consisting of 10‐15 μm PDMS films and hydrophobic silica nanoparticle demonstrated an excellent barrier property and offered protection for nearly 80 days.…”

Facile fabrication of stain‐resistant poly(lactic acid)/silicone powder fibers: Comprehensive structure characterization and performance evaluation

“…As the silicone powder content increased, the contact angle of the compounds increased from 73 (pure PLA) to 91 (3 wt% silicone powder addition), which can be attributed to the synergistic effect of the low surface energy of PDMS and the micro/ nanostructure of SiO 2 . 58 When the content of silicone powder exceeded 3 wt%, the contact angle of the compound decreased slightly. When combined with the SEM findings, it reveals that the agglomeration of SiO 2 limits the improvement in the hydrophobic performance Figure 9.…”

Synthesis and characterization of low surface energy thermoplastic polyurethane elastomers based on polydimethylsiloxane

“…When PDMS segments migrated to the surface, the -CH 3 in PDMS tended to combine with the polarity of polyurethane internally, while the Si-O chains tended to bugle in the air, forming a hydrophobic surface. [30][31][32] Therefore, when the contents of PDMS reached 10 wt%, as silicon element was enriched to saturated state on polyurethane surface, increasing PDMS contents would not reduce surface energy of Si-MPTUs.…”