NSF Award
9160964
The problem of marine biofouling is very important, and one to which extensive efforts have been expended in order to find materials that will prevent such fouling. The diversity and adaptability of marine organisms is simultaneously impressive and depressing. It is sobering to consider the facts that marine organisms will attach to and colonize fluorinated polymer surfaces, such as Teflon, albeit not as tenaciously as to other materials, and that the pholad Martesia has been observed to attack as inert a polymer as polyethylene. This research program involves a waterborne polymeric formulation which promises to significantly advance the state of the art of non-toxic antifouling paints. The novel composition contains no toxic ingredients or volatile organic compounds (VOC). The proposed technology is also attractive since it involves only environmentally benign components, will be easy to apply, and will be of low cost.
