LOWER CRITICAL SOLUBILITY TEMPERATURE MATERIALS AS BIOFOULING RELEASEAGENTS

Poly(N-isopropylacrylamide) (PNIPAAM) exhibits a lower critical solubi lity temperature (LCST) of 32 degrees C, Using thin films of this comp ound as a model system, the potential of 'smart polymers' as biofoulin g-release agents was examined. PNIPAAM-coated glass slides were incuba ted in artificial sea water containing the marine bacterium Halomonas marina or in natural bay water at a temperature above the LCST, Upon r insing of the biofouled samples with artificial sea water below the LC ST, the dissolution of the coating released over 90% of the attached f ouling material, a significant increase over the release obtained for glass controls, These experiments demonstrate the potential of PNIPAAM and similar polymers as possible fouling-release agents, and suggest that tethered PNIPAAM (or similar polymers) may be useful as regenerab le fouling-release surfaces.