Mechanical Properties of Protective Coatings against Marine Fouling: A Review

Abstract

The accumulation of marine organisms on ship hulls, such as microorganisms, barnacles, and seaweeds, represents a global problem for maritime industries, with both economic and environmental costs. The use of biocide-containing paints poses a serious threat to marine ecosystems, affecting both target and non-target organisms driving science and technology towards non-biocidal solutions based on physico-chemical and materials properties of coatings. The review reports recent development of hydrophobic protective coatings in terms of mechanical properties, correlated with the wet ability features. The attention is focused mainly on coatings based on siloxane and epoxy resin due to the wide application fields of such systems in the marine industry. Polyurethane and other systems have been considered as well. These coatings for anti-fouling applications needs to be both long-term mechanically stable, perfectly adherent with the metallic/composite substrate, and capable to detach/destroy the fouling organism. Prospects should focus on developing even “greener” antifouling coatings solutions. These coatings should also be readily addressable to industrial scale-up for large-scale product distribution, possibly at a reasonable cost.

Advances in Polymer Based Composite Coatings

“…Polymer based composite coatings represent an important class of materials for various applications [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] due to their capabilities to couple the elastic, optical, or wettability properties of the polymers with the mechanical, physical, and chemical properties of metals, dielectrics, or ceramics. Usually, selective chemical or plasma methods are chosen for synthesis or tailoring of the surface properties of polymer based layers.…”

“…Usually, selective chemical or plasma methods are chosen for synthesis or tailoring of the surface properties of polymer based layers. The authors who submitted their latest results to this Special Issue [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 ] evidenced the advantages as well as the drawbacks of the following methods used for different coating synthesis procedures: atom transfer radical polymerization technique [ 1 ], electrospraying [ 2 ], radio frequency magnetron sputtering technique [ 3 , 8 ] chemical vapor deposition [ 4 , 6 ], plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition [ 4 ], and high-pressure spray gun [ 7 ]. There is also one particular study on the improvement, experimentally and theoretically, of the blister technique used for measuring of the polymers’ adhesion strength [ 5 ].…”

“…Summarizing, this Special Issue contains eight papers dedicated to synthesis and analysis of mechanical, wettability and physicochemical properties of different kind of polymer based composite coatings [ 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 ]. It also comprise one review paper which provides an overall insight to all the class of polymer coatings with applications in the marine industry [ 9 ].…”

“…By atom transfer radical polymerization technique (ATRP), Guazzelli E., et al [ 1 ], synthesized amphiphilic diblock copolymers, consisting of two blocks of polystyrene modified with a mixed PEG-fluoroalkyl side chain formed by ~12 CH 2 CH 2 O and ~4 CF 2 CF 2 groups, as additives for elastomeric SEBS two-layer films. They are biocide free, with low bulk elastic modulus and low energy being of high interest in the fight against marine biofouling [ 9 ]. The hydrophobic character of the samples immersed in water was attributed to the fluorine enriched film surfaces.…”

“…The review of Pistone A et al [ 9 ], draws attention to the importance of superhydrophobic coatings and their mechanical properties in the maritime industry. The accumulation of microorganisms, barnacles, and seaweeds on the ship hulls hampers the proper hydrodynamic movement of the boats.…”