Issue 10, 2016

Complex shaped ZnO nano- and microstructure based polymer composites: mechanically stable and environmentally friendly coatings for potential antifouling applications

Abstract

Since the prohibition of tributyltin (TBT)-based antifouling paints in 2008, the development of environmentally compatible and commercially realizable alternatives is a crucial issue. Cost effective fabrication of antifouling paints with desired physical and biocompatible features is simultaneously required and recent developments in the direction of inorganic nanomaterials could play a major role. In the present work, a solvent free polymer/particle-composite coating based on two component polythiourethane (PTU) and tetrapodal shaped ZnO (t-ZnO) nano- and microstructures has been synthesized and studied with respect to mechanical, chemical and biocompatibility properties. Furthermore, antifouling tests have been carried out in artificial seawater tanks. Four different PTU/t-ZnO composites with various t-ZnO filling fractions (0 wt%, 1 wt%, 5 wt%, 10 wt%) were prepared and the corresponding tensile, hardness, and pull-off test results revealed that the composite filled with 5 wt% t-ZnO exhibits the strongest mechanical properties. Surface free energy (SFE) studies using contact angle measurements showed that the SFE value decreases with an increase in t-ZnO filler amounts. The influence of t-ZnO on the polymerization reaction was confirmed by Fourier transform infrared-spectroscopy measurements and thermogravimetric analysis. The immersion tests demonstrated that fouling behavior of the PTU/t-ZnO composite with a 1 wt% t-ZnO filler has been decreased in comparison to pure PTU. The composite with a 5 wt% t-ZnO filler showed almost no biofouling.

Graphical abstract: Complex shaped ZnO nano- and microstructure based polymer composites: mechanically stable and environmentally friendly coatings for potential antifouling applications

Supplementary files

Article information

Article type
Paper
Submitted
03 dez 2015
Accepted
01 fev 2016
First published
03 fev 2016
This article is Open Access
Creative Commons BY license

Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016,18, 7114-7123

Complex shaped ZnO nano- and microstructure based polymer composites: mechanically stable and environmentally friendly coatings for potential antifouling applications

I. Hölken, M. Hoppe, Y. K. Mishra, S. N. Gorb, R. Adelung and M. J. Baum, Phys. Chem. Chem. Phys., 2016, 18, 7114 DOI: 10.1039/C5CP07451G

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