Diatom attachment inhibition: limiting surface accessibility through air entrapment.
Surfaces consisting of sub micron holes (0.420-0.765 μm) engineered into nanoparticle (12 nm) coatings were examined for marine antifouling behaviour that defines early stage settlement. Immersed surfaces were found to be resistant to a 5-hour attachment assay of Amphora coffeaeformis, a marine organism commonly found in abundance on fouled substrates such as foul-releasing paints and self-polishing coatings. Attachment inhibition was attributed to the accessibility of diatoms to the surface. This was governed by the size and morphology of trapped interfacial air pockets measured in-situ using synchrotron small angle x-ray scattering. Surfaces containing larger pores (0.765 μm) exhibited the highest resistance. Macroscopic wettability via contact angle measurements however remained at 160° and sliding angle of < 5° and was found to be independent of pore size and not indicative of early stage fouling behaviour. The balance of hierarchical nano/micro length scales was critical in defining the early stage stability of biofouling character of the interface.
School of Chemistry, University of Melbourne, 3010, Melbourne, Australia, ahwu@unimelb.edu.au.
Alex H-F
AH
Wu
Kenichi
K
Nakanishi
K L
KL
Cho
Robert
R
Lamb
D057219:Biofouling / Q000517:prevention & control; D017377:Diatoms / Q000502:physiology*; D053758:Nanoparticles / Q000737:chemistry*; D013499:Surface Properties; D017155:Wettability