Research progress of marine antifouling coatings and their performance evaluation technologies

摘要

Marine antifouling coatings can effectively keep ship hulls free from the adhesion of marine organisms, thereby preventing increased ship sailing resistance, operating costs and carbon emissions [1]. However, due to the long evaluation period and the increasingly strict environmental regulations, developing long-term antifouling coatings has become a challenging task. In this paper, the research progress of the self -polishing coatings based on ion exchange, hydrolyzable or degradable polymers and the fouling release coatings based on silicone elastomers is reviewed[2,3]. Additionally, this paper also presents the research progress of laboratory and real -sea performance evaluation techniques. To further shorten the evaluation period and develop long-acting antifouling coatings, we established a rapid laboratory optimization method for antifouling coatings. By using orthogonal experiment design, the influences of pigment volume concentration (PVC), resin/rosin mass ratio and the amount of additives (R) on the biocides release rate and adhesion of coatings were studied, and the optimal value of PVC, resin/rosin mass ratio and the amount of additives (R) were obtained[4]. Based on the above methods, we have developed a series of novel degradable self - polishing coatings for different applications. Such coatings have been widely used because of their good antifouling performances and drag reducing properties.