Adaptive Coatings with Anticorrosion and Antibiofouling Properties

Countering catastrophic corrosion

23 December 2021

A responsive multifunctional polymer coating can counter biocorrosion on metal structures such as powerplant pipelines and shipping infrastructure.

The biofouling of metal structures in fresh or sea water can greatly accelerate corrosion. The related cost to industry reaches up to US$50 billion dollars annually. Coatings to minimize biofouling are therefore typically used.

Now, four researchers at Vidyasirimedhi Institute of Science and Technology in Thailand and a collaborator have developed an adaptive polymer coating that can counter corrosion as well as biofouling.

The polymer backbone is decorated with fluorinated side chains and the corrosion-inhibiting molecule MBT, which is attached by cleavable disulfide linkages. The fluorinated units create a form of non-stick surface that prevents fouling algae from attaching to surfaces. The MBT adds a second line of defence. It acts as a biocide, but is also cleaved from the polymer in a corrosion-reducing environment, functioning as a controlled-release corrosion inhibitor.

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References

1. Advanced Functional Materials 31, 2102568 (2021). doi: 10.1002/adfm.202102568