Influence of Polyelectrolyte Multilayer Coating on the Degree and Type of Biofouling in Freshwater Environment

Biofouling is one of the biggest problems of water-borne systems. Since not only marine but also freshwater-based structures are affected, the biofouling in this environment is studied. The focus of this study lies on the antifouling properties of novel coating materials like polyelectrolyte multilayers (PEM) compared with currently used silicon rubber (PDMS) based fouling release coatings. The following article contains the results of a systematical screening of the mechanical, surface charge and surface nano-heterogeneous properties of the investigated PEM and PDMS systems. The results show that negatively charged non crosslinked and crosslinked PEM coated PDMS can surpass current PDMS based fouling release coatings. The PEM films are not only able to reduce the biofouling, but are additionally able to control the type of settled bacteria (gram positive or negative). The negative terminated surfaces inhibit the settlement of gram positive bacteria, whereby the positive terminated surfaces inhibit the settlement of gram negative bacteria.