Underwater Adhesive for Coral Restoration

The decline of coral reefs can be feasibly reversed by introducing coral transplants that are stabilized via adhesion to substrates. An adhesive is under development to safely and economically improve the speed and success rate of stabilizing coral transplants. This adhesive comprises a bioactive inorganic and an organic polymer constituent that function synergistically to enable rapid and controlled underwater application at different scales, achieve high set and cure rates in seawater, minimize any need for surface preparation, stimulate the self-attachment and growth of transplants, avoid any threat to marine life, and offer favorable economics and sustainability. The Phase I project developed and characterized the bioactive inorganic and the refined organic constituents, integrated them to produce the hybrid, bioactive adhesive, and evaluated the structure and properties of the new adhesive, its ability to enhance the growth rate of coral transplants in seawater aquaria, and its competitive cost and sustainability merits. The proposed Phase II project will further refine and optimize the hybrid, bioactive adhesive, thoroughly evaluate its performance in laboratory, seawater aquaria and representative offshore sites, verify the scalability, performance, cost and sustainability advantages of the optimized adhesive, and address the proprietary, teaming and regulatory needs in preparation for market entry.