Design and testing of smart antifouling materials: beyond biocidal approaches

与液体接触的表面的结垢，特别是生物结垢，例如对建筑物和船舶的船体造成重要且昂贵的问题。仅在航运业，生物污染问题每年造成的损失就超过40亿英镑。除了成本问题外，它还因使用过量燃料而造成严重污染。因此，防污对于提高船舶效率至关重要。大多数当前的生物杀灭策略依赖于生物杀灭化学品的逐步释放。虽然在防止结垢方面是有效的，但这产生了一个单独的环境问题，在密集水道中某些生物体的可测量的消耗。一种可能的前进方向是开发能够在纳米级控制水和污垢生物行为的新表面，从而可能防止污垢调节和对生物填料的需求。该项目旨在利用原子力显微镜的最新进展，以获得新的，分子水平的见解涂层和含有污垢剂的液体之间的界面，重点是（i）局部液体动力学，（ii）污垢粘附的细节和（iii）表面的老化。一些研究课题可包括：- 当浸入不同相关条件时，表面疏水性/亲水性的纳米级映射（图1），-涂层表面处的局部液体剪切动力学，-在感兴趣的表面的不同位置处的污垢剂的粘附的定量，包括随时间的变化，-单个，- 老化对纳米和宏观尺度表面特性的影响。该项目将有助于发展对既定防污策略的原位纳米级理解，以分子精确度绘制其功能并确定优势和劣势。这将为污垢过程提供前所未有的见解，并确定任何规模依赖的影响。结果将有助于设计更好的涂层，也可以同时利用液体流动和生物粘附在所有尺度。除了直接为阿克苏诺贝尔开发新颖、更生态的产品（影响超出学术界），该战略和目标本身也是高度道德的，符合负责任的创新。成功将有助于减少碳排放和全球燃料消耗，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.