Incorporating zosteric acid into silicone coatings to achieve its slow release while reducing fresh water bacterial attachment.
Biofouling has posed serious problems in maritime industry including increased fuel consumptions, economic loss from ship-hull maintenances, contamination of drinking water, and serious corrosion for mechanical instruments. Minimizing the attachment of bacteria and formation of biofilm could be advantageous in reducing the early stages of biofouling. Zosteric acid, a natural product present in eelgrass, was found to have ability for preventing the attachment of some bacteria and barnacles. In this study, the antifouling ability of zosteric acid during the early stages of fouling was evaluated using attachment studies of fresh water bacteria. Simultaneously, various methods were sought for incorporating zosteric acid into silicone to prolong the release of the compound. The main results from this study were that zosteric acid exhibited anti-bacterial attachment regardless of whether it dispersed in water or incorporated into a coating. In addition, the release rate of zosteric acid from the incorporated coatings, particularly those where zosteric acid was uniformly dispersed with aggregates size of 4 microm or less, was orders of magnitude slower than those of previous reports. The release results indicate that the service life of our coatings could be far extended even with a small amount of zosteric acid incorporated.
Barrios
Carlos A
CA
Department of Chemical Engineering, The University of Akron, Akron, OH 44325-3906, USA.
Xu
Qingwei
Q
Cutright
Teresa
T
Newby
Bi-min Zhang
BM
D001422:Bacterial Adhesion / Q000187:drug effects / Q000502:physiology*; D002934:Cinnamates / Q000494:pharmacology*; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D010936:Plant Extracts; D016958:Pseudomonas putida / Q000187:drug effects / Q000302:isolation & purification; D012828:Silicones; D013463:Sulfuric Acid Esters / Q000494:pharmacology*; D014871:Water Microbiology
D002934:Cinnamates; D003692:Delayed-Action Preparations; D010936:Plant Extracts; D012828:Silicones; D013463:Sulfuric Acid Esters; C503399:zosteric acid