Wang Jing, Macdonald Brian, Cho Tae H, Repetto Taylor, Sun Kai, Tuteja Anish, Dasgupta Neil P
Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, 48109, USA.
Small. 2024 Oct;20(40):e2400784. doi: 10.1002/smll.202400784. Epub 2024 Jun 4.
Marine biofouling is a complex and dynamic process that significantly increases the carbon emissions from the maritime industry by increasing drag losses. However, there are no existing non-toxic marine paints that can achieve both effective fouling reduction and efficient fouling release. Inspired by antifouling strategies in nature, herein, a superoleophobic zwitterionic nanowire coating with a nanostructured hydration layer is introduced, which exhibits simultaneous fouling reduction and release performance. The zwitterionic nanowires demonstrate >25% improvement in fouling reduction compared to state-of-the-art antifouling nanostructures, and four times higher fouling-release compared to conventional zwitterionic coatings. Fouling release is successfully achieved under a wall shear force that is four orders of magnitude lower than regular water jet cleaning. The mechanism of this simultaneous fouling reduction and release behavior is explored, and it is found that a combination of 1) a mechanical biocidal effect from the nanowire geometry, and 2) low interfacial adhesion resulting from the nanostructured hydration layer, are the major contributing factors. These findings provide insights into the design of nanostructured coatings with simultaneous fouling reduction and release. The newly established synthesis procedure for the zwitterionic nanowires opens new pathways for implementation as antifouling coatings in the maritime industry and biomedical devices.
海洋生物污损是一个复杂且动态的过程，通过增加阻力损失显著增加了海运业的碳排放。然而，目前尚无既能有效减少污损又能高效实现污损释放的无毒海洋涂料。受自然界防污策略的启发，本文引入了一种具有纳米结构化水化层的超疏油两性离子纳米线涂层，该涂层同时展现出减少污损和释放污损的性能。与最先进的防污纳米结构相比，两性离子纳米线的污损减少效果提高了25%以上，与传统两性离子涂层相比，污损释放能力高出四倍。在比常规水射流清洗低四个数量级的壁面剪切力下成功实现了污损释放。探究了这种同时减少污损和释放污损行为的机制，发现主要贡献因素包括：1）纳米线几何形状产生的机械杀菌效应，以及2）纳米结构化水化层导致的低界面粘附力。这些发现为设计具有同时减少污损和释放污损功能的纳米结构涂层提供了见解。新建立的两性离子纳米线合成方法为其作为防污涂层应用于海运业和生物医学设备开辟了新途径。
