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Inhibition of marine biofoulants settlement by new biomimetic coatings

Ana E. Ferreira1, Cátia Vilas Boas2, Joana R. Almeida3, Emilia Sousa3, 4, Madalena Pinto3, 4, Marta Correia-da-Silva3, 4, Maria J. Calhorda1 and Elisabete R. Silva1, 5*
  • 1 Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Quimica e Bioquimica, Portugal
  • 2 CIIMAR/CIMAR - Interdisciplinary Centre of Marine and Environmental Research, University of Porto, Portugal
  • 3 Centro Interdisciplinar de Pesquisa Marine e Ambiental (CIIMAR), Portugal
  • 4 Faculdade de Farmácia, Universidade do Porto, Laboratório de Química Orgânica e Farmacêutica, Portugal
  • 5 Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Engenharia Quimica, CERENA, Portugal

The spontaneous colonization of marine organisms on submerged surfaces is one of the most serious problems in the marine sector (e.g. shipping, desalination units, aquaculture, off-shore platforms, etc.). This undesired bio-attachment, known as marine biofouling can promote substrate deterioration, systems clogging and fluids contamination, resulting on costly maintenance and retrofitting consequences, as well as serious risks to the human health [1]. Several antifouling coatings and technologies have been developed to target the surfaces protection against marine biofouling. However, the ecotoxicity and bioaccumulation susceptibility of the applied bioactive agents or their derivatives has led to strict restrictions for their use, and in the future even more restricted guidelines are expected (BPR, EU Regulation nº528/2012), thus recalling for environmentally friendly antifouling alternatives. In this work, a promising biomimetic compound with previously investigated antifouling bioactivity, synthesized accordingly to the methods described in [2], as well as the commercial Econea biocide, for comparative purposes, were immobilised in marine paints [3]. Two representative marine paints, silicone and polyurethane based, were used. The new developed antifouling formulations have been evaluated in terms of environmental compatibility. The effective bioactive agents immobilisation in the polymeric coatings formulations was confirmed by leaching tests (standard ISO15181) for 45 days, and biocide release quantification by HPLC-DAD analyses. The antifouling effectiveness of coating formulations was assessed by an in vivo anti-settlement bioassay using mussel adhesive larvae as target species [3]. Both polyurethane and silicone based coatings containing the biomimetic agent showed bioactivity on the settlement inhibition of mussel larvae, In particular, for silicone based formulations a total inhibition effect on this marine organism can be achieved for an agent content as high as 3 wt.%. These results also corroborated with the Econea-based formulations for similar contents and matrices. The overall results evidenced the low ecotoxicity and an antifouling control-release potential of the new developed biomimetic coatings.

Acknowledgements

This work was supported by Fundação para a Ciência e a Tecnologia (FCT) through UID/MULTI/00612/2013, PEst-OE/QUI/UI0612/2013, and PTDC/AAG-TEC/0739/2014 and by EU Regional Development Fund through the COMPETE (POCI-01-0145-FEDER-016793) and RIDTI (Project 9471). Acknowledge are also due to Hempel A/S for paints supply, Sara Cravo and Olga Ferreira for technical support. E. R. Silva and J.R. Almeida also acknowledge for FCT support (SFRH/BPD/88135/2012 and SFRH/BPD/87416/2012, respectively)

References

[1] J. Chan, and S. Wong. Biofouling Types, Impact and Anti-Fouling. Pollution Science, Technology and Abatement Series, Nova Science Publishers, Inc. New York, 2010.

[2] J. R. Almeida, M. Correia-da-Silva, E. Sousa, J. Antunes, M. Pinto, V. Vasconcelos, I. Cunha. Antifouling potential of Nature-inspired sulfated compounds, Scientific Reports, 7, 42424, 2017.

[3] E. R. Silva, O. Ferreira, J. C. Bordado. Functionalization process for biocide immobilization in polymeric matrices. Patent Application, WO2016/093719 A1, 2016.

Keywords: Biofouling prevention, macrofouling, mussel larvae anti-settlement, biomimetic antifoulant, Antifouling coatings, Controlled Release, non-toxic technology

Conference: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018, Peniche, Portugal, 5 Jul - 6 Jul, 2018.

Presentation Type: Poster Presentation

Topic: Biodiversity, Conservation and Coastal Management

Citation: Ferreira AE, Vilas Boas C, Almeida JR, Sousa E, Pinto M, Correia-da-Silva M, Calhorda MJ and Silva ER (2019). Inhibition of marine biofoulants settlement by new biomimetic coatings. Front. Mar. Sci. Conference Abstract: IMMR'18 | International Meeting on Marine Research 2018. doi: 10.3389/conf.FMARS.2018.06.00061

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Received: 27 Apr 2018; Published Online: 07 Jan 2019.

* Correspondence: Dr. Elisabete R Silva, Faculdade de Ciências, Universidade de Lisboa, Quimica e Bioquimica, Lisbon, Lisboa, 1749-016, Portugal, ersilva@fc.ul.pt