Polyurethane coatings modified by OH-PDMS for anti-cavitation, antifouling and anticorrosion applications

Cavitation, biofouling, and seawater corrosion are important factors that reduce the service life of propellers and other overcurrent components of ship. Herein, OH-PDMS was introduced into polyurethane and a series of hydrophobic polyurethane coatings (SiPU-X) with anti-cavitation, antifouling and anticorrosion functions were synthesized by a simple addition reaction. The chemical composition and microstructure of the prepared coatings were analyzed by means of FT-IR, SEM, and EDS, and it was found that the addition of OH-PDMS enhanced the degree of microphase separation of SiPU-X. The addition of OH-PDMS resulted in a large number of island structures of OH-PDMS on the coating surface. The SiPU-15 with the optimal microphase separation had better tensile strength of 12.33 MPa, excellent hydrophobicity (with a contact angle of 105.3°), hydrolysis resistance (with a hydrolysis rate of 0.26 %), and water repellency (with a water absorption of 2.21 %). More importantly, the weight loss (7.1 mg) of SiPU-15 was much lower than that of SiPU-0 (10.0 mg) under 60 h cavitation owing to the suitable microphase structure on the surface. In addition, SiPU-15 exhibited excellent fouling release properties and could remain in the ocean for 60 days without microbial adhesion. The |Z|0.01Hz of SiPU-15 can maintain 3.33 × 107 Ω·cm2 after immersion in 3.5 wt% NaCl for 10 days. This work provides a heuristic perspective on the design of polymer materials with cavitation, fouling, and corrosion resistance performance.