Non-Leaching, Benign Antifouling Multilayer Polymer Coatings for Marine Applications

摘要

The goal of this project has been to produce a non-toxic, metal-free, environmentally friendly elastomeric coating with superior fouling resistance and/or fouling release properties. This program is designed to ultimately provide feedback on the efficiency, uniformity and overallquality of coating formation and assesses the coatings performance in a marine environment. This work involves the production of fouling resistant and/or fouling release marine coatings from an environmentallybenign multilayer film consisting of a SABC supported by a thick, soft elastomeric layer. The commercially available and relatively inexpensivepoly (styrene)-blockpoly( ethylene/butylene)-block- polystyrene (SEBS) elastomeric layer provides the necessary corrosion protection, durability, and modulus for the coating system. The relatively thin SABClayer lends antifouling and/or fouling-release properties to the coatingsystem through control of surface properties. To further our production of the bilayer coating system, a partnership between Cornell University and Kraton Polymers was formed. Kraton Polymers assisted us by designingand producing relatively large quantities of block copolymer precursors for SABC synthesis. Additionally, they compression molded thick sheets of extruded SEBS thermoplastic elastomer (TPE) onto aluminum test panelsto act as the base layer for our coating system onto which the SABC was to be spray-coated for marine testing. Finally, Kraton also identified and provided a thermoplastic elastomer base layer to optimally match theSABC surface layer. Cornell meanwhile has focused on functionalization of the precursor polymers and other synthetic methods to form the SABC layer, characterizing the SABCs (both their bulk chemical properties andsurface characteristics) once synthesized, fabricating the test coatings, and evaluating their antifouling and foulmarine biology.