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Facile fabrication of fluorine-free slippery antifouling coatings with self-cleaning and anti-microorganism properties

  • Materials for life sciences
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Abstract

Fluorine-free slippery antifouling coatings which can be used in various special areas, such as cleaning of the high-rise surfaces, corrosion protection of industrial facilities and anti-microbial protection of biomedical instruments have been in high demand. However, the preparation of these coatings with excellent liquid repellency, anti-microorganism, bond strength, and mechanical strength (e.g., flexibility and scratch resistance) remains a challenge. Herein, a multifunctional fluorine-free slippery coating is reported, utilizing polydimethylsiloxane for self-cleaning function, methyl anthranilate as an anti-microbial agent, and bisphenol A diglycidyl ether and 1,3-Bis(3-aminopropyl)tetramethyldisiloxane to improve mechanical strength. The self-cleaning assessment results demonstrate that the presence of methylene blue and dirt on the coating surface can be effortlessly eliminated by flowing water. Moreover, the anti-microbial experiment indicates that the antifouling coatings possess a remarkable growth inhibition effect on pathogenic microorganisms such as E. coli, S. aureus, and Penicillium with corresponding percentages of 96.2%, 92.5%, and 96.5%, respectively. Furthermore, the prepared coatings possess various excellent mechanical properties such as abrasion resistance, bending resistance and bond fastness. In addition, the coating can impart excellent chemical, thermal and UV resistance abilities to the substrate. Considering its solvent-free character and excellent antifouling behavior, this work would provide insights into the design of the next-generation of the eco-friendly and sustainable antifouling coating.

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Acknowledgements

This research was supported by QUTJBZ Program (No. 2022JBZ01-05), Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences) Young Doctor cooperation program (No. 2019BSHZ007), National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52003128) and Natural Science Foundation of Shandong province (No. ZR2020QE086). Assistance with laboratory work offered by Dr. Ren Yuan is gratefully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Faculty of Light Industry, State Key Laboratory of Biobased Material and Green Papermaking, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, 250353, People’s Republic of China

    Xujing Zhang, Huicong Han, Wei Kuang, Huilin Tian & Xin Wang

  2. International College of Optoelectronic Engineering, Qilu University of Technology (Shandong Academy of Sciences), Jinan, 250353, People’s Republic of China

    Wei Cheng

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  1. Xujing Zhang
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  2. Huicong Han
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  3. Wei Kuang
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  4. Huilin Tian
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  5. Xin Wang
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  6. Wei Cheng
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Contributions

XZ: Methodology, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing-original draft, Data curation. HH: Methodology, Investigation. WK: Conceptualization, Supervision, Formal analysis, Project administration, Writing-review & editing. HT: Writing-review & editing. XW: Resources, Formal analysis. WC: Project administration.

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Correspondence to Wei Kuang, Huilin Tian or Wei Cheng.

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Zhang, X., Han, H., Kuang, W. et al. Facile fabrication of fluorine-free slippery antifouling coatings with self-cleaning and anti-microorganism properties. J Mater Sci 58, 8969–8980 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10853-023-08617-x

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