Long-term microfouling on commercial biocidal fouling control coatings

Abstract

The current study investigated the microbial community composition of the biofilms that developed on 11 commercial biocidal coatings, including examples of the three main historic types, namely self-polishing copolymer (SPC), self-polishing hybrid (SPH) and controlled depletion polymer (CDP), after immersion in the sea for one year. The total wet weight of the biofilm and the total bacterial density were significantly influenced by all coatings. Pyrosequencing of 16S rRNA genes revealed distinct bacterial community structures on the different types of coatings. Flavobacteria accounted for the dissimilarity between communities developed on the control and SPC (16%) and the control and SPH coatings (17%), while Alphaproteobacteria contributed to 14% of the dissimilarity between the control and CDP coatings. The lowest number of operational taxonomic units was found on Intersmooth 100, while the lowest biomass and density of bacteria was detected on other SPC coatings. The experiments demonstrated that the nature and quantity of biofilm present differed from coating to coating with clear differences between copper-free and copper-based biocidal coatings.

Biofouling on Coated Carbon Steel in Cooling Water Cycles Using Brackish Seawater

“…Our results indicated that the amount of bacteria on the surfaces from the control system was 10 8 cells·cm −2 . Similar numbers of bacterial microfouling have been reported on anti-fouling surfaces in oceanic waters, also in much warmer sites [24][25][26]. Hypochlorite treatment reduced the bacterial numbers by 10-1000-fold, but the efficiency depended on the coating.…”

“…Here, the anti-fouling coatings alone did not prevent the settlement of microfouling organisms. Since microbial fouling affects the performance of commercial antifouling coatings the quantitative and qualitative analyses of marine microbial fouling communities is of great interest [25,39]. As summarized by Flemming [4], detailed knowledge about biofilms is crucial for understanding and preventing biofouling, as well as to choose a successful anti-fouling strategy.…”

The effect of carbon nanotubes and titanium dioxide incorporated in PDMS on biofilm community composition and subsequent mussel plantigrade settlement

“…Bacteria that contributed less than 1% are not shown. formation of fouling communities are largely unknown (Salta et al 2013;Ling et al 2014;Muthukrishnan et al 2014). The current investigation revealed that the incorporation of the CNTs and TiO 2 nanoparticles into PDMS coatings impacted the formation of microbial biofilms, which subsequently reduced mussel plantigrade settlement.…”

Grooming using rotating brushes as a proactive method to control ship hull fouling

“…This frequency of hull cleaning is insufficient to reduce the risk of invasive species and may leave settlement cues from macrofouling organisms that influence subsequent settlement (Ralston & Swain 2014). It has also been shown that the nature and quantity of biofilms present differs among the types of antifouling (AF) coatings (Zargiel et al 2011;Hunsucker et al 2014;Muthukrishnan et al 2014;Zargiel & Swain 2014). Specifically, the age, composition, and thickness of a biofilm have been shown to influence the organisms that subsequently settle on a coated surface as well as their adhesion and growth properties (Dobretsov et al 2013;Mieszkin et al 2013;Shikuma et al 2014).…”