Abstract
Modifications have been made to the previously described adult barnacle laboratory reattachment method to enhance and improve the overall utility of this technique for rapidly assessing the efficacy of novel fouling-release marine coating technologies. These modifications include the use of an immobilization template to secure barnacles onto the coating surfaces during the underwater reattachment process, the development of a semi-automated push-off device to enable consistent and reproducible force gauge measurements and the implementation of a software tool to measure the diameter of barnacle base plates for adhesion strength calculations. A series of experimental siloxane–polyurethane and control coatings were evaluated with both the original and improved laboratory reattachment methodologies. Significantly higher adhesion strengths were obtained on these coatings using the improved reattachment method. Furthermore, only the improved reattachment method was able to discern significant differences in the performance of the siloxane–polyurethane coatings based on differences in compositional components. In this regard, the siloxane–polyurethane coatings containing the poly-caprolactone end groups attached to the poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) backbone exhibited significantly higher reattached barnacle adhesion strengths than the aminopropyl-terminated PDMS containing coatings. It was also shown that the utilization of barnacles with 5–6 mm base plate diameters, rather than 7–8 mm diameters, significantly enhanced the strength or tenacity of adhesion to the surface of the control coatings. The results of the improved laboratory reattachment evaluation of experimental siloxane–polyurethane and control coatings were in good agreement with barnacle adhesion measurements obtained for the same coatings with static ocean immersion testing in the field.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Clare, AS, Aldred, N, “Surface Colonisation by Marine Organisms and Its Impact on Antifouling Research.” In: Hellio, C, Yebra, DM (eds.) Advances in Marine Antifouling Coatings and Technologies. Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, 2009
Schultz, MP, “Economic Impact of Biofouling on a Naval Surface Ship.” Biofouling, 27 (1) 87–98 (2011)
Schultz, MP, “Effects of Coating Roughness and Biofouling on Ship Resistance and Powering.” Biofouling, 23 (5–6) 331–341 (2007)
Townsin, RL, “The Ship Hull Fouling Penalty.” Biofouling, 19 (Suppl) 9–15 (2003)
Tribou, M, Swain, G, “The Use of Proactive In-water Grooming to Improve the Performance of Ship Hull Antifouling Coatings.” Biofouling, 26 (1) 47–56 (2010)
Marechal, JP, Hellio, C, “Challenges for the Development of New Non-toxic Antifouling Solutions.” Int. J. Mol. Sci., 10 (11) 4623–4637 (2009)
Yebra, DM, Kiil, S, Dam-Johansen, K, “Antifouling Technology—Past, Present and Future Steps Towards Efficient and Environmentally Friendly Antifouling Coatings.” Prog. Org. Coat., 50 (2) 75–104 (2004)
Finnie, AA, Williams, DN, “Paint and Coatings Technology for the Control of Marine Fouling.” In: Durr, S, Thomason, JC (eds.) Biofouling. Wiley, Oxford, 2010
Kavanagh, CJ, Quinn, RD, Swain, GW, “Observations of Barnacle Detachment from Silicones Using High-Speed Video.” J. Adhesion, 81 (7–8) 843–868 (2005)
Brady, RF, Griffith, JR, Love, KS, Field, DE, “Nontoxic Alternatives to Antifouling Paints.” J. Coat. Technol., 59 113–119 (1987)
Webster, DC, Chisholm, BJ, “New Directions in Antifouling Technology.” In: Durr, S, Thomason, JC (eds.) Biofouling. Wiley, Oxford, 2009
Briand, JF, “Marine Antifouling Laboratory Bioassays: An Overview of Their Diversity.” Biofouling, 25 (4) 297–311 (2009)
Ekin, A, Webster, DC, Daniels, JW, Stafslien, SJ, Casse, F, Callow, JA, Callow, ME, “Synthesis, Formulation, and Characterization of Siloxane–Polyurethane Coatings for Underwater Marine Applications Using Combinatorial High-Throughput Experimentation.” J. Coat. Technol. Res., 4 (4) 435–451 (2007)
Majumdar, P, Stafslien, S, Daniels, J, Webster, DC, “High Throughput Combinatorial Characterization of Thermosetting Siloxane–Urethane Coatings Having Spontaneously Formed Microtopographical Surfaces.” J. Coat. Technol. Res., 4 (2) 131–138 (2007)
Rittschof, D, Orihuela, B, Stafslien, S, Daniels, J, Christianson, D, Chisholm, B, Holm, E, “Barnacle Reattachment: A Tool for Studying Barnacle Adhesion.” Biofouling, 24 (1) 1–9 (2008)
Sommer, S, Ekin, A, Webster, DC, Stafslien, S, Daniels, J, VanderWal, L, Thompson, SEM, Callow, ME, Callow, JA, “A Preliminary Study on the Properties and Fouling-Release Performance of Siloxane–Polyurethane Coatings Prepared from Poly(dimethylsiloxane) (PDMS) Macromers.” Biofouling, 26 (8) 961–972 (2010)
Stafslien, SJ, Bahr, J, Daniels, J, Christianson, DA, Chisholm, BJ, “High-Throughput Screening of Fouling-Release Properties: An Overview.” J. Adhesion Sci. Technol. (2011). doi:10.1163/016942411X574934
Webster, DC, Chisholm, BJ, Stafslien, SJ, “High Throughput Methods for the Design of Fouling Control Coatings.” In: Hellio, C, Yebra, DM (eds.) Advances in Marine Antifouling Coatings and Technologies. Woodhead Publishing, Cambridge, 2009
Wendt, DE, Kowalke, GL, Kim, J, Singer, IL, “Factors that Influence Elastomeric Coating Performance: The Effect of Coating Thickness on Base Plate Morphology, Growth and Critical Removal Stress of the Barnacle Balanus amphitrite.” Biofouling, 22 (1/2) 1–9 (2006)
Ekin, A, Webster, DC, “Combinatorial and High-Throughput Screening of the Effect of Siloxane Composition on the Surface Properties of Crosslinked Siloxane–Polyurethane Coatings.” J. Comb. Chem., 9 (1) 178–188 (2007)
Pitombo, FB, “Phylogenetic Analysis of the Balanidae (Cirripedia, Balanomorpha).” Zool. Scr., 33 261–276 (2004)
ASTM International, Standard Test Method for Measurement of Barnacle Adhesion Strength in Shear. Designation D5618-94, p. 2, 2005
Kavanagh, CJ, Swain, GW, Kovach, BS, Stein, J, Darkangelo-Wood, C, Truby, K, Holm, E, Montemarano, J, Meyer, A, Wiebe, D, “The Effects of Silicone Fluid Additives and Silicone Elastomer Matrices on Barnacle Adhesion Strength.” Biofouling, 19 (6) 381–390 (2003)
Kim, J, Nyren-Erickson, E, Stafslien, S, Daniels, J, Bahr, J, Chisholm, BJ, “Release Characteristics of Reattached Barnacles to Non-toxic Silicone Coatings.” Biofouling, 24 (4) 313–319 (2008)
ASTM International, Standard Test Method for Testing Antifouling Panels in Shallow Submergence. Designation D3623-78a, p. 8, 2004
Chen, Z, Chisholm, B, Kim, J, Stafslien, S, Wagner, R, Patel, S, Daniels, J, Vander Wal, L, Li, J, Ward, K, Callow, M, Thompson, S, Siripirom, C, “UV-Curable, Oxetane-Toughened Epoxy-Siloxane Coatings for Marine Fouling-Release Coating Applications.” Polym. Int., 57 (6) 879–886 (2008)
Berglin, M, Larsson, A, Jonsson, PR, Gatenholm, P, “The Adhesion of the Barnacle, Balanus improvisus, to Poly(dimethylsiloxane) Fouling-Release Coatings and Poly(methyl methacrylate) Panels: The Effect of Barnacle Size on Strength and Failure Mode.” J. Adhesion Sci. Technol., 15 (12) 1485–1502 (2001)
Becka, A, Loeb, G, “Ease of Removal of Barnacles from Various Polymeric Materials.” Biotechnol. Bioeng., 26 1245–1251 (1984)
Singer, IL, Kohl, JG, Patterson, M, “Mechanical Aspects of Silicone Coatings for Hard Foulant Control.” Biofouling, 16 301–309 (2000)
Swain, GW, Griffith, JR, Bultman, JD, Vincent, HL, “The Use of Barnacle Adhesion Measurements for the Field Evaluation of Non-toxic Foul Release Surfaces.” Biofouling, 6 105–114 (1992)
Swain, GW, Schultz, M, “The Testing and Evaluation of Non-toxic Antifouling Coatings.” Biofouling, 10 187–197 (1996)
Stafslien, S, Daniels, J, Mayo, B, Christianson, D, Chisholm, B, Ekin, A, Webster, D, Swain, G, “Combinatorial Materials Research Applied to the Development of New Surface Coatings IV. A High-Throughput Bacterial Biofilm Retention and Retraction Assay for Screening Fouling—Release Performance of Coatings.” Biofouling, 23 (1/2) 45–54 (2007)
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank Prof. Geoff Swain and Emily Ralston, Florida Institute of Technology, and Prof. Michael Hadfield, University of Hawaii, for conducting static ocean immersion testing. Financial support from the Office of Naval Research through ONR Grants N00014-07-1-1099 and N00014-08-1-1149 is gratefully acknowledged.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Stafslien, S., Daniels, J., Bahr, J. et al. An improved laboratory reattachment method for the rapid assessment of adult barnacle adhesion strength to fouling-release marine coatings. J Coat Technol Res 9, 651–665 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-012-9409-7
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11998-012-9409-7