STUDIES ON THE ADHESION CONTROL OF MARINE ORGANISMS BY MEANS OF A HETEROGENEOUS POLYMER SURFACE

To control the adhesion of marine organisms on polymer materials, effe cts of phase separation of polymer surfaces was studied. Polydimethyls iloxane modified with polyethylene glycol as a hydrophilic component a nd poly(dimethyldiphenylsiloxane) as a hydrophobic component were comb ined. Surface properties were characterized by SEM observation of morp hology and measurements of surface energy and adsorption of protein. A ctual fouling was investigated by immersion of test panels in Orido-Ba y, Shimizu. Results showed that the film surface, which had phase-sepa rated structure with free surface energy of 23.0 mJ/m(2) and 0.8 simil ar to 1.0 mu m in domain size, was especially effective to prevent adh esion of marine organisms. The adhesion of marine organisms on polymer films exhibited a good correlation with the adsorption of proteins su ch as gamma-globulin and fibrinogen. The results would be useful to de velop materials for non-toxic anti-fouling coatings.