Anti-marine biofouling adhesion performance and mechanism of PDMS fouling-release coating containing PS-PEG hydrogel

Polystyrene microspheres compounded with polyethylene glycol–based hydrogel (PS-PEG)/polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) coatings were prepared using the physical blending method. The chemical structure, surface and interface properties, interlayer adhesion, and tensile properties were tested in this paper. Furthermore, the antifouling performance was evaluated through bovine serum albumin fluorescent protein adsorption testing, marine bacteria adhesion testing, and benthic diatom adhesion testing. The results showed that the coating performance was best when 20 wt% PS-PEG hydrogel was added. Its surface energy was only 19.21 mJ/m2, the maximum breaking strength was 1.24 MPa, the maximum elongation rate was 675 %, the elastic modulus was 2.53 MPa, and the anti-stripping rate was 100 %. In addition, the coating with added 20 wt% PS-PEG hydrogel bacterial adherence rate was 5.36 % and 2.45 % after rinsing and washing, respectively, and the removal rate was 54.29 %. In the benthic diatom adhesion test, the chlorophyll concentration a-value was only 0.0017 mg/L after washing with added 20 wt% hydrogel, and the protein desorption rate was 84.19 % higher than PDMS in the fluorescent protein adsorption test. This coating has the ‘low adhesion’ and ‘desorption’ characteristics in the three growth stages of biofouling. Meanwhile, the low surface energy of the silicone is stable, and the hydrogel also dynamically migrates to the surface to gradually form a hydration layer, both are synergistic. When 20 wt% PS-PEG hydrogel was added, the coating demonstrated excellent antifouling performance due to its high hydration layer, low surface energy, high elasticity, and high interlayer adhesion. This research is expected to contribute to the practical applications of hydrogel coatings in marine antifouling.