Amphiphilic Polymer Platforms: Surface Engineering of Films for Marine Antibiofouling

Abstract

A range of amphiphilic polymers with diverse macromolecular architectures has been developed and incorporated into films and coatings with potential for marine antibiofouling applications, without resorting to addition of currently used biocidal, toxic agents. Novel "green" chemical technologies employ different building blocks to endow the polymer film with surface activity, functionality, structure, and reconstruction according to the outer environment as a result of a tailored amphiphilic character of the polymer platform. We emphasise how these features can interplay and add synergistically to affect antifouling and fouling-release against common, widespread marine micro- and macro-fouling organisms.

Model Amphiphilic Block Copolymers with Tailored Molecular Weight and Composition in PDMS-Based Films to Limit Soft Biofouling

“…Thus, it appears from our current study that PEGMA and AF6 components can be added together synergistically 22,35,65 and amphiphilicity can be integrated into a multifunctional network polymer platform by the addition of tailored amphiphilic block copolymers to create a new generation of AF/FR coatings 40. CONCLUSIONSAmphiphilic block copolymers consisting of PDMS segments combined with segments made from copolymers of a PEG-containing methacrylate and a fluoroalkyl acrylate were introduced into a crosslinked PDMS coating and shown to populate the coating surface by surface segregation using contact angle and NEXAFS measurements.…”

“…[33][34][35][36] However, commercial coatings that employ some of these strategies accumulate microfouling 37,38 and may require grooming for optimum performance. 39 Amphiphilic copolymers containing both polar and non-polar components 40 have been shown to act as AF materials. They incorporate protein resistance from hydrophilic groups such as PEG as well as surface directing low surface energy components such as alkyl, fluorinated, or siloxane groups.…”

Multipurpose Antifouling Coating of Solid Surfaces with the Marine‐Derived Polymer Fucoidan

“…The control of biofouling, the nonspecific fouling of bioentities, such as proteins, bacteria, mammalian cells, and (micro)algae, is a central issue in the biomedical and marine industries because unwanted adsorption of bioentities on artificial surfaces can cause biomedical devices to malfunction or increase fuel consumption in marine vessels . Many attempts have been made to develop antifouling materials, and as a result, various types of antifouling materials, including polyethylene glycol (PEG), polysaccharides, zwitterionic polymers, and fluorinated polymers, have been successfully developed. In addition to the abovementioned single‐component materials, multi‐component materials have been designed and synthesized as highly efficient antifouling materials .…”

The Preparation and Properties of Fluoroacrylate-Modified Polysiloxane as a Fabric Coating Agent

“…Currently, concerning fluoropolymer-modified polysiloxane materials, preparation methods mainly include hydrosilylation, emulsion polymerization, atom transfer radical polymerization (ATRP), photopolymerization, and grafting methods [6][7][8][9][10][11][12][13][14]. Furukawa et al [6,7] utilized the hydrosilylation of fluorinated olefins with polyhydromethylsiloxane to synthesize a series of fluorosilicones and used them hydrosilylation of fluorinated olefins with polyhydromethylsiloxane to synthesize a series of fluorosilicones and used them as finishing agents for polyester fabrics.…”

“…Luo et al [9,10] used the ATRP technique to prepare a poly(dimethylsiloxane)-block-poly(methyl methacrylate)-block-poly(2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluorobutyl methacrylate) triblock copolymer and poly(methacryloxypropyltrimethoxysilane-b-2,2,3,3,4,4,4-heptafluorobutyl methacrylate -grafted silica hybrid nanoparticles. Martinelli et al [11,12] prepared a series of amphiphilic diblock copolymers containing a poly(dimethylsiloxane) block and a PEGylated-fluoroalkyl-modified polystyrene block via ATRP and tested them as biofouling coatings. Novel photopolymerized network films on the basis of a polysiloxane matrix containing varied amounts of polyoxyethylene or perfluorohexylethyl dangling side chains were studied by Martinelli et al [13].…”