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Biodegradable surfactants do not improve antifouling or fouling-release performance of polydimethylsiloxane

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Abstract

Surfaces that combine low-toxicity antifouling effects with fouling-release properties are an intriguing possibility for developing effective measures against marine biofouling. This study field tested siloxane-based fouling-release surfaces enhanced by adding biodegradable surfactants. Two different surfactants were added to a standard polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface, as well as to PDMS soaked in silicone oil, and compared to controls without surfactant augmentation. Antifouling and fouling-release performance was assessed over 11 to 13 weeks against the most prominent fouling species at three locations in Cape Breton, Nova Scotia, Canada. Using nonlinear mixed effect analysis, surfactants were found to have little impact on the progression of biofouling on PDMS without silicone oil in all three sites and had no additional impact on the progression of biofouling on PDMS augmented with silicone oil. (Silicone oil was found to delay biofouling in PDMS without other additives.) Given the known toxicity of some surfactants to invertebrate larvae, future efforts should consider either higher concentrations or alternative varieties for incorporation into fouling-release surfaces.

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Acknowledgments

We acknowledge this research was conducted in Mi’kma’ki, the ancestral and unceded territory of the Mi’kmaq People. We also thank the organizations and local staff of Waycobah First Nation, USG (Little Narrows Gypsum Wharf), and Port Hawkesbury Yacht Club for using their facilities for deployments. Finaly, we thank Sophie LeBlanc for completing the (ultimately fruitless) contact angle measurements.

Funding

This study was supported by funding from the Nova Scotia Department of Fisheries and Aquaculture, made possible by Waycobah First Nation.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Centre for Biofouling Research and Department of Biology, St. Francis Xavier University, 4130 University Ave, Antigonish, NS, B2G 2W5, Canada

    Emmerson R. Wilson, Katerina Basque, Meaghan MacDonald, Amelia F. MacKenzie, Michelle Hodgson & Russell C. Wyeth

  2. Robin Stuart Consulting, P.O.Box 60, Englishtown, NS, Canada

    Robin Stuart

  3. Centre for Biofouling Research and Department of Chemistry, St. Francis Xavier University, 4130 University Ave, Antigonish, NS, B2G 2W5, Canada

    Truis Smith-Palmer

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  1. Emmerson R. Wilson
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Contributions

EW was involved in analysis, writing—original draft, and writing—reviewing and editing. KB, MM, AFM, and MH were responsible for methodology, investigation, and analysis. RS took part in funding acquisition, conceptualization, and methodology. TS-P participated in funding acquisition, conceptualization, methodology, and supervision. RCW contributed to conceptualization, methodology, analysis, writing—original draft, writing—reviewing and editing, supervision, and funding acquisition.

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Correspondence to Russell C. Wyeth.

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Wilson, E.R., Basque, K., MacDonald, M. et al. Biodegradable surfactants do not improve antifouling or fouling-release performance of polydimethylsiloxane. J Coat Technol Res 21, 1217–1229 (2024). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-023-00884-2

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