A bio-inspired liquid-like smooth copolymer coating with superior biofouling resistance and drag reduction

Abstract

The marine biofouling and fluid resistance have a detrimental impact on underwater vehicles. It is essential to develop functional material integrated with both antifouling and drag reduction effects for maritime transportation and navigation. Herein, to avoid the disadvantages of common slippery liquid-infused surfaces, such as the complexity of preparation micro/nanopores and the depletion of the lubricant layer, the novel liquid-like coating was fabricated by integrating the synthesized long chain organosilicon monomer (HPSM) to the self-polishing polymer chains. It is that the ingenious design integrated anti-fouling and drag reduction functions. The surface composition and structure, mechanical properties, antifouling and drag reduction properties of the coating were characterized by FT-IR, XPS, SEM, μ-PIV. These results indicated that the unique monomer HPSM endowed the coating with unique liquid-like properties, including special wettability, viscoelasticity and extremely low roughness. The flexibility of HPSM promoted the self-adaption ability of the coating in the seawater environment, which can effectively either reduce the fluid resistance when the fluid flowed through the surface or the adhesion strength of the biofouling, such as lots of protein (BSA) and alga (Porphyridium sp.and Navicula sp.). Moreover, the synergistic effect between liquid-like properties and the interface renewal behavior of self-polishing components further strengthened the antifouling performance of the coating. The marine field test further indicated the comprehensive anti-fouling performance and mechanical stability of the coating in practical application scenarios. This research provided a facile approach for preparing antifouling and drag-reduction coating. Therefore, it was believed to be a great inspiration for the design of functional coating against biofouling and drag reduction in the ship and marine industry field.