Resins for Antifouling Coating Applications

More than 4,000 marine fouling organisms have been identified in the oceans, including bacteria, Ulva spores and other microorganisms, as well as larger fouling organisms such as mussels and algae. These organisms attach to the surfaces of marine facilities and cause damage to human marine economies. Surface erosion of the hull and accumulation of biological growth increase the resistance on a ship's hull, leading to reduced ship speed and increased fuel consumption. Additionally, the offshore shipping industry is suffering significantly from these organisms. By attaching to facility surfaces and increasing their weight, they reduce facility resistance to environmental factors such as tsunamis and storms. With developments in the maritime industry, greater economic losses from marine fouling organisms are expected. The considerable time and expense required to clean and maintain marine facilities has led researchers to find ways to prevent fouling organisms from attaching to marine facility surfaces. Toxic coatings are applied to prevent biological adhesion. In antifouling coatings, toxic chemicals such as organotin compounds and copper oxide are added to the coating. These chemicals poison and kill organisms but also damage marine environments. Because of their negative environmental impacts, the use of organotin compounds in toxic paints has been banned. [1-3]. [caption id="attachment_125535" align="aligncenter"] Figure 1. Cost of fouling organisms attaching to ship hulls [4].[/caption]  Researchers have applied various strategies to solve problems caused by fouling organisms at sea. One approach is to replace metal compounds in toxic paints with non-toxic, environmentally friendly compounds. In this way, chemical antifoulants in coatings prevent biological growth by poisoning fouling organisms. Another approach is to modify the polymers used in toxic paints with silicone or fluorine compounds. In this way, the surfaces of coating materials have the ability to release fouling organisms after attachment, or possess a slippery characteristic where fouling organisms cannot attach. Silicone or fluorine compounds with hydrophobic character and low surface energy prevent fouling organisms from adhering to coating surfaces. Another strategy involves coatings with easy release properties. After fouling organisms bind, the coatings release the contaminants due to weak interaction between the surface and the fouling organisms. In recent years, several polymers with antifouling properties have been designed and used. One of the most interesting is the use of hydrophilic and zwitterionic (dipolar ions) polymers with high hydration and surface energy that prevent fouling organism attachment by creating a physical and free energy barrier, providing a tightly bound water layer [4-8]. [caption id="attachment_125536" align="aligncenter"] Figure 2. Schematic representation of three main toxic paint strategies: 1) preventing fouling organisms from attaching to the surface (fouling-resistant), 2) reducing interaction between fouling organisms and surface (fouling-release) and 3) damaging/killing contaminants [8].[/caption]  İzel Kimya is conducting research on the production of new resins to be used in toxic paints. By using fluorine or silicone monomers in resins, research continues on obtaining antifouling coatings with superhydrophobic properties and antifouling coatings with anti-fouling properties by including zwitterionic or hydrophilic monomers in polymers.

References

[1] Gu, Y.; Yu, L.; Mou, J.; Wu, D.; Xu, M.; Zhou, P.; Ren, Y. Research Strategies to Develop Environmentally Friendly Marine Antifouling Coatings. Mar. Drugs 2020, 18, 371.

[2] Daorn, K.A.; Lewis, J.A.; Johnston, E.L. Antifouling strategies: History and regulation, ecological impacts and mitigation. Mar. Pollut. Bull. 2011, 62, 453–465.

[3] Lejars, M.; Margaillan, A.; Bressy, C. Fouling release coatings: A nontoxic alternative to biocidal antifouling coatings. Chem. Rev. 2012, 112, 4347–4390.

[4] Selim, M.S.; Shenashen, M.A.; El-Safty, S.A.; Higazy, S.A.; Selim, M.M.; Isago, H.; Elmarakbi, A. Recent progress in marine foul-release polymeric nanocomposite coatings. Prog. Mater. Sci. 2017, 87, 1–32.

[5] Gao, Z.Q.; Jiang, S.M.; Zhang, Q.F.; Li, X.G. Advances in research ofmarine antifouling

fluorine resin coatings with low surface energy. Electropating Finish. 2017, 36, 273–279.

[6] Arukalam, I.O.; Oguzie, E.E.; Li, Y. Fabrication of FDTS-modified PDMS-ZnO nanocomposite hydrophobic coating with anti-fouling capability for corrosion protection of Q235 steel. J. Colloid Interface Sci. 2016, 484, 220–228.

[7] Zhou, X.; Xie, Q.Y.; Ma, C.F.; Chen, Z.J.; Zhang, G.Z. Inhibition of marine biofouling by use of degradable and hydrolyzable silyl acrylate copolymer. Ind. Eng. Chem. Res. 2015, 54, 9559–9565.

[8] Maan, A. M. C., Hofman, A. H., de Vos, W. M., Kamperman, M., Recent Developments and Practical Feasibility of Polymer‐Based Antifouling Coatings. Adv. Funct. Mater. 2020, 30, 2000936.

  [caption id="attachment_125537" align="alignnone"] Dr. Cemil DIZMAN
R&D Manager
R&D Manager
İzel Kimya
Izel Chemical[/caption]   [caption id="attachment_125538" align="alignnone"] Gökhan Yıldırım
R&D Researcher
R&D Researcher
İzel Kimya
Izel Chemical[/caption]