Fluorinated Amphiphilic Polymers and Their Blends for Fouling-Release Applications: The Benefits of a Triblock Copolymer Surface

Sundaram, Harihara S.; Cho, Youngjin; Dimitriou, Michael D.; Finlay, John A.; Cone, Gemma; Williams, Sam; Handlin, Dale; Gatto, Joseph; Callow, Maureen E.; Callow, James A.; Kramer, Edward J.; Ober, Christopher K.

Type

Article

Authors

Sundaram, Harihara S.
Cho, Youngjin
Dimitriou, Michael D.
Finlay, John A.
Cone, Gemma
Williams, Sam
Handlin, Dale
Gatto, Joseph
Callow, Maureen E.
Callow, James A.
Kramer, Edward J.
Ober, Christopher K.

Date

2011-09-12

Online Publication Date

2011-09-12

Print Publication Date

2011-09-28

Permanent link to this record

http://hdl.handle.net/10754/598347

Metadata

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Abstract

Surface active triblock copolymers (SABC) with mixed polyethylene glycol (PEG) and two different semifluorinated alcohol side chains, one longer than the other, were blended with a soft thermoplastic elastomer (TPE), polystyrene-block-poly(ethylene-ran-butylene)-block-polystyrene (SEBS). The surface composition of these blends was probed by X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and near edge X-ray absorption fine structure (NEXAFS) spectroscopy. The surface reconstruction of the coatings in water was monitored qualitatively by dynamic water contact angles in air as well as air bubble contact angle measurements in water. By blending the SABC with SEBS, we minimize the amount of the SABC used while achieving a surface that is not greatly different in composition from the pure SABC. The 15 wt % blends of the SABC with long fluoroalkyl side chains showed a composition close to that of the pure SABC while the SABC with shorter perfluoroakyl side chains did not. These differences in surface composition were reflected in the fouling-release performance of the blends for the algae, Ulva and Navicula. © 2011 American Chemical Society.

Citation

Sundaram HS, Cho Y, Dimitriou MD, Finlay JA, Cone G, et al. (2011) Fluorinated Amphiphilic Polymers and Their Blends for Fouling-Release Applications: The Benefits of a Triblock Copolymer Surface. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces 3: 3366–3374. Available: http://dx.doi.org/10.1021/am200529u.

Sponsors

This work was primarily supported by NanoSurfaces Inc (SHS). Partial support was provided by the U.S. Department of Defense's Strategic Environmental Research and Development Program (SERDP), grant WP #1454, with additional support from the Office of Naval Research (ONR) through awards #N00014-08-1-0010 (J.A.C. and M.E.C.) and N00014-02-1-0170 (C.K.O. and E.J.K.). Partial support from the Cornell KAUST Center is also acknowledged. E.J.K. and M.D.D. acknowledge partial support from the NSF Polymers Program (DMR-0704539) as well as the use of central facilities funded by the NSF-MRSEC program (UCSB MRL, DMR-0520415).