Anti-Fouling Coatings for Ship Hulls Based on Bioresistance

Marine biofouling of ship hulls results in increased fuel consumption, decreased speed, and the transport of non-indigenous species. Current antifouling coatings prevent fouling through the slow and controlled release of toxins such as metals or organicbiocides. As continual leaching of biocides raises environmental concerns, there is a need for a new class of coatings that will prevent fouling through a different mechanism that will not release contaminants in the environment. Luna proposes newcoatings that will remedy biofouling by preventing the attachment of biomaterials to hulls. These antifouling coatings will not rely on the controlled release of a substance to achieve this effect but rather will neutralize the organisms' ability toattach themselves to these surfaces. This proposal outlines the development of a thin bioresistant coating that can be applied to any epoxy surfaces, such as the anti-corrosion coatings of ship hulls. Polymers that display groups known to prevent theadsorption of proteins and cells (e.g. bioresistant) will be covalently bound to an epoxy layer and shown to prevent fouling of the protected substrate. This approach avoids the release of pollutants in the environment and these coatings, afteroptimization, are likely to have extensive lifetime and necessitate minimal maintenance. This project will yield non-leaching anti-fouling coatings for ship hulls. The chemistry of these coatings can easily be scaled-up to become an industrial process.Such coatings will find applications in the military, commercial, and entertainment naval industries as anti-fouling coatings for hulls or even heat exchangers. Biomedical technology is another area that has a need for such bioresistant coatings. Thecoatings developed during this program will have all the right properties to prevent bacterial fouling/colonization of implants and medical devices.