Inhibition of Marine Biofouling
by Use of Degradable
and Hydrolyzable Silyl Acrylate Copolymer
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Abstract
Silyl
acrylate copolymers are promising materials for marine antibiofouling.
However, their structures need optimizing to improve their erosion
and mechanical properties. We have prepared copolymer of 2-methylene-1,3-dioxepane
(MDO), tributylsilyl methacrylate (TBSM) and methyl methacrylate (MMA)
via radical ring-opening copolymerization. Such polymer has a degradable
backbone and hydrolyzable side groups. Our study demonstrates that
as the ester units in the backbone increase, the degradation rate
increases but the swelling decreases in seawater. The degradation
is controlled by the polymer composition or the molar ratio of the
ester units in the backbone to the silyl ester side groups. Moreover,
such polymer can serve as a carrier and controlled release system
for organic antifoulants. Marine field tests show that the system
consisting of the copolymer and organic antifoulant has good antifouling
performance depending on the polymer composition. It can effectively
inhibit the colonization and growth of marine organisms when MDO content
is above 20 wt %