EVALUATION OF POLYANILINE ELECTRODEPOSITED ON MARINE GRADE ALUMINIUM FOR ANTIFOULING PROPERTIES

摘要

The present investigation assessed the antifouling protection performance of conducting polymer-based coatings on marine grade, AA5083, aluminium alloy. The coating system consists of a polyaniline film grown electrochemically under potentiostatic control from a 0.5 M oxalic acid solution containing 0.1 M aniline. Coated and control marine grade aluminium were challenged by immersion in growing cultures of Escherichia coli ATCC 25922 lux and E. coli 536 lux, under controlled conditions, to simulate fouling in an accelerated fashion. This novel testing method allowed a nondestructive evaluation of bacterial growth on different surfaces, using selected coatings, with bioluminescence from bacteria colonising the aluminium coupons imaged using kinetic sensitive CCD camera at 24 hourly intervals over a two week period. Polyaniline-coating of marine grade aluminium delayed colonisation indicating a lower rate of fouling.