Self-Stratifying Silicone Coating with Nonleaching Antifoulant for Marine Anti-Biofouling

Chemical immobilization of antifoulant groups to polymers is a promising approach to develop ecofriendly antifouling materials with static antifouling ability and a durable efficacy. In this work, telomer of dodecafluoroheptyl methacrylate (DFMA), triclosan acrylate (TA), and 3-mercaptopropyl trimethoxysilane (KH590) is grafted to bis-silanol terminated poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS), yielding a novel self-stratifying silicone coating containing nonleaching antifoulants. X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) analysis reveals that the antifoulant groups are enriched on the coating surface due to DFMA migration. Such a modified PDMS coating can significantly inhibit the growth of marine bacterial biofilm and the adhesion of diatoms owing to the nonleaching antifoulant groups. On the other hand, the coating exhibits a good fouling release performance since it inherits the low surface energy (≈20 mJ m −2 ) and low elastic modulus (<2 MPa) from PDMS forming a physically dynamic surface. Marine field tests demonstrate that the coating has excellent antifouling ability after immersion in natural seawater for more than 6 months.