Functional Nanomaterials, Institute for Materials Science, Faculty of Engineering, Kiel University, Kaiserstr. 2, Kiel D-24143, Germany.
Phi-Stone AG, Kaiserstr. 2, Kiel D-24143, Germany.
ACS Appl Mater Interfaces. 2021 Jan 27;13(3):4545-4552. doi: 10.1021/acsami.0c20058. Epub 2021 Jan 17.
In this study, polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS)/polythiourethane (PTU) composite reinforced with tetrapodal shaped micro-nano ZnO particles (t-ZnO) was successfully produced by a versatile, industrially applicable polymer blending process. On the surface of this composite, PDMS is distributed in the form of microdomains embedded in a PTU matrix. The composite inherited not only good mechanical properties originating from PTU but also promising fouling-release (FR) properties due to the presence of PDMS on the surface. It was shown that the preferential segregation of PDMS domains at the polymer/air interface could be attributed to the difference in the surface free energy of PDMS and PTU. The PDMS microdomains at the PTU/air interface significantly reduced the barnacle adhesion strength on the composite. Both the pseudo- and natural barnacle adhesion strength on the composite was approximately 0.1 MPa, similar to that on pure PDMS. The pseudo-barnacle adhesion on reference surfaces AlMg3 and PTU reached approximately 4 and 6 MPa, respectively. Natural barnacles could not be removed intact from AlMg3 and PTU surfaces without breaking the shell, indicating that the adhesion strength was higher than the mechanical strength of a barnacle shell (approximately 0.4 MPa). The integrity of PDMS microdomains was maintained after 12 months of immersion in seawater and barnacle removal. No surface deteriorations were found. In short, the composite showed excellent potential as a long-term stable FR coating for marine applications.
在这项研究中，通过一种通用的、工业适用的聚合物共混工艺，成功制备了聚二甲基硅氧烷（PDMS）/聚硫代氨基甲酸酯（PTU）复合材料，该复合材料中加入了四足形微纳米 ZnO 粒子（t-ZnO）作为增强剂。在该复合材料的表面，PDMS 呈微区分布，嵌入在 PTU 基质中。该复合材料不仅继承了 PTU 良好的力学性能，而且由于表面存在 PDMS，还具有有前景的防污（FR）性能。结果表明，PDMS 微区在聚合物/空气界面的优先分离归因于 PDMS 和 PTU 的表面自由能的差异。PTU/空气界面处的 PDMS 微区显著降低了复合表面藤壶的附着强度。复合表面的伪和天然藤壶的附着强度均约为 0.1 MPa，与纯 PDMS 相似。参考表面 AlMg3 和 PTU 上的伪藤壶附着强度分别约为 4 MPa 和 6 MPa。天然藤壶不能在不破坏贝壳的情况下从 AlMg3 和 PTU 表面完整地去除，这表明附着强度高于藤壶贝壳的机械强度（约 0.4 MPa）。PDMS 微区在海水中浸泡 12 个月和去除藤壶后仍保持完整。未发现表面恶化。总之，该复合材料作为海洋应用的长期稳定 FR 涂层具有优异的应用潜力。
