Design and testing of smart antifouling materials: beyond biocidal approaches

与液体接触的表面的污垢，特别是生物污垢，例如对建筑物和船体造成了重大和昂贵的问题。仅在航运业，生物污染问题每年就耗资超过40亿GB。除了成本问题外，它还对过度使用燃料造成的严重污染负有责任。因此，防污对于提高船舶效率至关重要。目前的大多数防污策略都依赖于生物杀灭化学品的逐步释放。虽然这在防止污垢方面是有效的，但这也造成了一个单独的环境问题，即某些生物在稠密水中的可测量的消耗。一种可能的方法是开发新的表面，能够在纳米尺度上控制水和污垢生物的行为，潜在地防止污垢的条件作用和对生物杀菌剂的需求。该项目旨在利用原子力显微镜的最新进展，在分子水平上对涂层和含有污垢剂的液体之间的界面进行深入的了解，重点是(I)局部液体动力学，(Ii)污垢附着力的细节和(Iii)表面的老化。一些研究主题可以包括：-在不同相关条件下浸泡时表面疏水性/亲水性的纳米标绘(图1)，-涂层表面的局部液体剪切动力学，-污垢剂在感兴趣的表面的不同位置的粘附性的量化，包括随时间的变化，-单个、整个生物(例如单细胞)在涂层上的粘附性的量化，-老化对纳米和宏观尺度表面特性的影响。该项目将有助于在现场纳米尺度上理解良好的防污垢策略，用分子的精确度绘制它们的功能图，找出它们的长处和短处。这应该会对污垢过程提供前所未有的洞察，并确定任何依赖于规模的影响。研究结果将有助于设计更好的涂层，同时利用液体流动和所有尺度的生物粘附性。除了直接为阿克苏诺贝尔开发新颖、更生态的产品做出贡献(影响超越学术界)外，该战略和目标本身也是高度道德的，并与负责任的创新保持一致。如果成功，将有助于减少碳排放，减少全球燃料消耗，同时有助于更好地保护海洋生物。

The fouling of surfaces in contact with liquids and in particular biofouling creates important and costly problems, for example to buildings and to the hull of ships. In the shipping industry alone, the problem of bio-fouling costs more than £4 billion every year. Aside from the issue of costs, it is responsible for significant pollution due to excess fuel being used. Antifoulings are therefore critical to make ships more efficient. Most current antifouling strategies rely on the progressive release of biocidal chemicals. While effective at preventing fouling, this creates a separate environmental problem with measurable depletion of certain organisms in dense water ways. One possible way forward is to develop new surfaces able to control the behaviour of water and fouling organisms at the nanoscale, potentially preventing the conditioning for fouling and the need for biocidals. This project aims to exploits recent advances in atomic force microscopy to gain new, molecular-level insights into the interface between coatings and liquids containing fouling agents, focusing on (i) local liquid dynamics, (ii) details of the fouling adhesion and (iii) the ageing of the surface. Some topic of research could include: - Nanoscale mapping of the hydrophobicity/philicity of the surface when immersed in different relevant conditions (Fig. 1),- Local liquid shear dynamics at the surface of coatings, - Quantification of the adhesion of fouling agents at different location of surfaces of interest, including variation over time,- Quantification of the adhesion of single, whole living organisms (e.g. unicellulars) on coatings,- Effect of ageing on the surface properties at the nano and macro scale.The project will help develop in-situ nanoscale understanding of well-established anti-fouling strategies, map their function with molecular precision and identify strength and weaknesses. This should provide unprecedented insights into fouling process and identify any scale-dependent effect. Results will help design better coating that can also exploit liquid flow and bio-adhesion at all scales simultaneously. Aside from contributing directly to the development of novel, more ecological products for AkzoNobel (impact beyond academia), the strategy and goals are in themselves highly ethical and in line with Responsible Innovation. A success would help reduce carbon emissions, global fuel consumption all while helping to better preserve marine life.