Silicone low surface energy antifouling coating modified by zwitterionic side chains with strong substrate adhesion

Silicone fouling release coatings were receiving increasing concern due to of their eco-friendly properties. However, their poor fouling resistance capability and mechanical properties limited the applications. Herein, we reported a type of silicone low surface energy coating with zwitterionic side chains and the carbamates group was introduced into the Si-O main chain. The carbamates groups and zwitterions provided strong substrate adhesion up to 2.0 MPa through hydrogen bond and ion interaction which also endowed the good mechanical properties higher than 6.0 MPa. The coating had a low surface energy less than 30 mJ·m−2, and exhibited good fouling release properties in the range of 0.3–0.5 MPa. Also, zwitterions gave the coating excellent fouling resistance properties. The bioassays showed that the anti-bacterial efficiency of PDMS-zPDEM-14 coating against Pseudomonas sp. was 94.86%, the coating could inhibit the formation of biofilm (the coverage area was only 13.64%) and effectively prevent the adhesion of diatoms (the density of adhered diatoms was 107 cells/mm2) This work had promising applications in low surface energy marine antifouling coating and interfaces of biomaterials.