A Self‐Cleaning Mucus‐like and Hierarchical Ciliary Bionic Surface for Marine Antifouling

Abstract

The flexible mucus film and hydrophilic hierarchical micro‐/nanoprotuberance structure on the skin surfaces of marine organisms contribute to an excellent intrinsic antifouling performance. Inspired by this fact, a self‐cleaning mucus‐like and hierarchical ciliary bionic antifouling surface (SMCAS) is designed for marine antifouling based on the electrostatic flocking technology. The results of scanning electron microscopy (SEM) show that the bioinspired SMCAS has a hierarchical micro‐/nanociliary structure and the micrometer array of polyamide (PA) microfibers is covered with the nanometer carbon nanotube/polyvinyl alcohol (CNT/PVA) hydrogel particles. The biomasses of the two marine microoganisms, Nitzschia closterium f. minutissima and Marinobacter lipolyticus SM19 (T), attached on the SMCAS are investigated using a UV–visible spectrophotometer (UV–vis) and SEM. The results reveal that the microoganisms attached on the SMCAS are significantly lower number in comparison with the organic silicon coating. In addition, the SMCAS has a greater ability of stain removal in the dyed petroleum ether washing test. Therefore, the SMCAS demonstrates an extraordinary antifouling performance due to the synergetic effect of the mucus‐like hydrogel film and the hierarchical micro‐/nanostructured micropillars.

Hagfish‐inspired Smart SLIPS Marine Antifouling Coating Based on Supramolecular: Lubrication Modes Responsively Switching and Self‐healing Properties

“…because of high teratogenicity, ecofriendly, and efficient marine antifouling coatings are still extensively studied to this day. [4,5] Many antifouling coatings have been developed in this battle against marine fouling, such as self-polishing coating, [6][7][8] low surface energy (SE) coating, [9][10][11][12] micro-structured coating, [13][14][15] hydrophilic coating, [4,16,17] hydrophobic coating, [18][19][20][21] amphiphilic coating, [7,8,22] antifoulant release coating, [9,23] dynamic biodegradable coating, [16,24,25] slippery liquid-infused porous surface (SLIPS), [26][27][28][29][30] bactericidal coating, [23,31] mimic peptide coating, [32] fluorescent coating, [33] and so on. Among these methods, SLIPS has attracted continuous attention because of low SE, low Young's modulus, and dynamic antifouling surface.…”

Recent Developments in Biomimetic Antifouling Materials: A Review

“…Many of these have taken inspiration from nature and have incorporated aspects of sharkskin; crustaceans; or, more recently, mucus generation and hydrophilic hierarchical micro/nano-structures found on marine organisms [ 63 ]. Ren et al have recently reported “mucus-like and hierarchical ciliary bionic” antifouling surfaces for marine antifouling applications [ 63 ]. Another group have used snail shells exhibiting oleophobic properties and a surface texture [ 64 ] to explore the feasibility of recreating similar structures on the inner surfaces of conventional biliary stents for antifouling purposes in medical fields [ 65 ].…”

“…Multiple commercial applications have considered this approach, with some promising technologies in development or at commercial stage (see for example Finsulate: www.finsulate.com-accessed on 1 May 2020). Many of these have taken inspiration from nature and have incorporated aspects of sharkskin; crustaceans; or, more recently, mucus generation and hydrophilic hierarchical micro/nano-structures found on marine organisms [63]. Ren et al have recently reported "mucus-like and hierarchical ciliary bionic" antifouling surfaces for marine antifouling applications [63].…”

Molecular Dynamics Simulation on the Wettability of Nanoscale Wrinkles: High Water Adhesion of Rose Petals

“…Bioinspired surfaces with microscale or nanoscale structures have widespread applications because of their unique properties, for example, self-cleaning, , energy harvesting, − thermal management, , radiative cooling, , drag reduction, , and reversible adhesion . The droplets deposited on the lotus leaf or rose petal both exhibit a high contact angle (>150°).…”