Cinnamaldehyde grafted porous Aerogel-Organ gel liquid infused surface for achieving difunctional long-term dynamic antifouling

Marine biofouling caused a number of questions about energy consumption and safety. While there were still some challenges in developing an environmentally friendly, non-toxic and long-term antifouling slippery liquid infused porous surface (SLIPS). Here, we proposed a difunctional antifouling strategy via constructing porous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface with a layer of aerogel by sol-gel method and grafted cinnamaldehyde chemically. The improvement in structure enhanced the liquid storage stability of coating, which in turn increases its anti-bioadhesive ability. In addition, the grafted cinnamaldehyde could also be used to act as a chemical antibacterial and is intelligently released in the face of harsh fouling environments, which played a key role in prolonging the antibacterial lifespan of the coating. After the 120-hour anti-bacteria experiment and the 25-day anti-algae experiment, the anti-Escherichia coli (anti -E. coli) rate and the anti-algae rate of the coating reached 99.6% and 99.9%, respectively, which was attributed to the excellent long-term antifouling properties of the coating. The combination of physical and chemical antifouling property made the coating achieve long-term fouling prevention for marine engineering equipment.

Automated summary

In this study, a difunctional antifouling strategy was proposed by constructing a porous polydimethylsiloxane (PDMS) surface with a layer of aerogel and chemically grafting cinnamaldehyde. The improved structure enhanced the liquid storage stability and anti-bioadhesive ability of the coating. The grafted cinnamaldehyde acted as a chemical antibacterial and was intelligently released in harsh fouling environments, resulting in excellent long-term antifouling properties of the coating.