ORIGINAL RESEARCH article
Front. Chem.
Sec. Polymer Chemistry
Volume 13 - 2025 | doi: 10.3389/fchem.2025.1666881
This article is part of the Research TopicAdvanced Organic Functional Coatings: Innovations in Multifunctional Design, Fabrication Strategies, and Scalable Engineering ApplicationsView all articles
A wear-resistant coating with combined mechanical and antifouling properties for potential underwater cleaning appli-cations
Provisionally accepted
- 1Zhejiang Ocean University, Zhoushan, China
- 2Zhejiang Feijing New Material Science & Technology Co., Ltd., Zhoushan, China
- 3Zhejiang University College of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Hangzhou, China
- 4Donghai Laboratory, Hangzhou, China
Select one of your emails
You have multiple emails registered with Frontiers:
Notify me on publication
Please enter your email address:
If you already have an account, please login
You don't have a Frontiers account ? You can register here
Silicone-based low-surface-energy antifouling coatings, which are environmentally friendly, are a current research focus. However, their practical application is often limited by the challenge of balancing mechanical stability and antifouling performance. This study developed a multifunctional anchoring material based on N,N'-Bis(12-hy-droxystearoyl)-1,3-phenylenediamine (A). By synergistically modifying silicone antifouling coatings with Molybdenum Disulfide (MoS₂) and polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), their comprehensive performance was significantly improved. For instance, adding 1% A reduced surface roughness by 33% (from 1.12 μm to 0.75 μm), increased the contact angle from 118.2° to 122.7°, and enhanced tensile strength by 85% (from 1.08 MPa to 2.00 MPa). The elastic modulus rose by 130%, while underwater friction decreased by 64% (from 2.41 ± 0.09 N to 0.87 ± 0.04 N). Even after 2000 wear cycles, the average surface roughness (Sa) remained below 2.65 μm. The coatings exhibited exceptional self-cleaning efficiency (>97.1 ± 0.87%) and antibacterial rates (>94.5 ± 1.78%). In marine field tests, they maintained effective antifouling performance for over 90 days during peak fouling seasons. The A/MoS₂/PTFE synergy simultaneously enhanced both mechanical and antifouling properties, overcoming the key drawbacks of traditional low-surface-energy coatings—low mechanical strength and poor wear resistance. This breakthrough not only demonstrates strong potential for practical antifouling applications but also offers new design strategies for coatings compatible with underwater cleaning robots.
Keywords: Silicone, Low-surface-energy, antifouling, Underwater cleaning, A/MoS2/PTFE
Received: 16 Jul 2025; Accepted: 26 Aug 2025.
Copyright: © 2025 Chen, Du, Xu, Zhang, Chen and Hu. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License (CC BY). The use, distribution or reproduction in other forums is permitted, provided the original author(s) or licensor are credited and that the original publication in this journal is cited, in accordance with accepted academic practice. No use, distribution or reproduction is permitted which does not comply with these terms.
* Correspondence: Jiankun Hu, Donghai Laboratory, Hangzhou, China
Disclaimer: All claims expressed in this article are solely those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of their affiliated organizations, or those of the publisher, the editors and the reviewers. Any product that may be evaluated in this article or claim that may be made by its manufacturer is not guaranteed or endorsed by the publisher.