Eco-friendly self-polishing antifouling coating via eugenol ester hydrolysis

• Published in: Progress in organic coatings 2022-11, Vol.172, p.107077, Article 107077
• Main Authors: Sha, Jianang, Yu, Jing, Chen, Rongrong, Liu, Qi, Liu, Jingyuan, Zhu, Jiahui, Liu, Peili, Li, Rumin, Wang, Jun
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Antifouling; Antifouling coatings; Biofouling; Coating; Coatings; Ecological effects; Eugenol; Heavy metals; Hydrolysis; Hydrophobicity; Mussels; Non-toxic; Polishing; Polymers; Resins; Seawater; Self-polishing; Submerging
• ISSN: 0300-9440; 1873-331X
• DOI: 10.1016/j.porgcoat.2022.107077

Ships and underwater facilities suffer from marine biofouling, which causes great harm. The most effective method against biofouling is to use self-polishing antifouling coatings. However, traditional coatings achieve antifouling performance by releasing toxic heavy metal antifouling agents, causing ecological problems. To solve this contradiction, a self-polishing antifouling coating polymer based on eugenol methacrylate was prepared. The hydrolysis of phenolic ester group realizes the transformation of resin segment from hydrophobicity to hydrophilicity. The self-polishing process releases eugenol, which is natural and non-toxic into seawater. It is the first time when self-polishing coating polymer achieves self-polishing by hydrolysis of phenolic ester groups and release of natural phenolic products. Eugenol release rate was the fastest at the beginning of immersion of the coating, reaching 0.48 μg·cm−2·day−1 for EMFP-25. After immersion in artificial seawater for 15 days, the release rate of eugenol from the coating tends to be stable, and the EMFP-25 with the highest release rate can reach 0.14 μg·cm−2·day−1. The resin has good antibacterial and anti-algae properties, and the mussel attachment experiments show that mussels have a tendency to avoid resin coatings with high eugenol content. •The polymer synthesis only requires simple one-step free radical polymerization.•Coating polymer achieves self-polishing property by hydrolysis of phenolic ester group.•The coating releases environmentally friendly natural antifouling agent.•The polymer presents good antibacterial and anti-algal properties.