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Abstract
The development of biofouling is a major problem for marine industries. The conception of antifouling and fouling release coatings, with controlled physical-chemical properties is a promising strategy. Among them, amphiphilic systems, such as those composed of a hydrophobic polydimethylsiloxane matrix and a hydrophilic polyethyleneglycol additive are the most efficient and up to date. Despite their effectiveness, these systems are questioned due to the petrochemical origin of PDMS. The aim of this project was to substitute the PDMS matrix with a biopolymer, poly(3-hydroxybuyrate-co-3-hydroxyvalerate) and to improve its anti-adhesion properties through the elaboration of an amphiphilic system, via the addition of PEG or PHBHHx-b-PEG copolymer. The results, including the physico-chemical properties of PHBHV based coatings and static adhesion tests on a marine bacterium, Bacillus 4J6 and a diatom, Phaeodactylum tricornutum are compared with those of PDMS and PEG-modified PDMS coatings. Real antiadhesion activity was obtained for the PHBHV/PHBHHx-b-PEG system for a promising eco-friendly strategy.
Acknowledgments
The authors would like to thank the Interdisciplinary School for the Blue Planet (ISBlue) and the Université de Bretagne Sud for providing funding for this work. Financial support from ANR PRCI (SeaBiop Project, France) is also acknowledged. The authors are grateful to Dr Emilie Portier for his help with the CLSM techniques and Dr Fabrice Azemar for helpful discussions.
Disclosure statement
The authors declare that they have no known competing financial interests or personal relationships that could have appeared to influence the work reported in this paper.
Funding
This thesis work was supported by Isblue.