Synthesis of eugenol ester-based sily-acrylate polymer and its antifouling properties

Abstract

Marine biofouling has caused huge economic and energy losses, and the application of marine antifouling coatings is one of the effective solutions to this problem. Sily-acrylate based self-polishing coatings are favored because of excellent antifouling performance. However, weak static antifouling performance restricts the development of sily-acrylate based antifouling coatings. To solve this problem, an eugenol ester-based sily-acrylate polymer (EMSPs) is synthesised, which showed both self-polishing and antifouling performance. The highest content of eugenol (EMSP-16) inhibits Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus) and Escherichia coli (E. coli) up to 62.2% and 76.3%, respectively, and inhibits the adhesion of Halamphora sp. and Nitzschia closterium (N. closterium) up to 85.1% and 90.8%, respectively. Mussel adhesion experiments show that mussels tend to avoid coatings with high eugenol content. The eugenol ester-based sily-acrylate polymer provides a new way to develop new environmentally friendly marine antifouling coatings and alleviate heavy metal pollution in the marine environment.