A facile preparation of epoxy-polydimethylsiloxane (EP-PDMS) polymer coatings for marine applications

Chemically modified polymer coatings have been synthesized using a blend of soft polymeric material polydimethylsiloxane (h-PDMS) incorporated with stiff polymer epoxy resin (EP) and was cross-linked using silane compatibilizer 3-aminopropyltriethoxysilane (APTES). A comparative analysis has been carried out between neat epoxy coating (N-EP) and epoxy-hydroxy-terminated polydimethylsiloxane (EP-hPD) blends to study the influence of blending ratio on various properties to cater marine applications. An increase of 144.4% in the Young's modulus (E) and 37.5% increment in adhesion strength at 30 wt% h-PDMS content was observed as compared with N-EP. The water contact angle results demonstrated a substantial increase in contact angle from 52.3 degrees to 90.1 degrees at 30 wt% h-PDMS content as compared to N-EP. Taber abrasion results revealed a decrease in weight loss (mg/1000 cycles) by 24.1 and 17.7% at 10 and 30 wt% loading of h-PDMS in comparison to N-EP. The surface roughness of N-EP and 30 wt% EP-hPD blend were found to be 33.4 nm and 41.4 nm, respectively. To determine the applicability of the developed blend coatings obligatory tests such as field immersion study and chemical resistance evaluation were conducted, and optimum performance was manifested by EP-hPD blend at an EP: h-PDMS ratio of 70:30.