An ecotoxicological study on tin- and bismuth-catalysed PDMS based coatings containing a surface-active polymer

• Novel films potentially applicable as fouling-release coatings were prepared.
• Bismuth neodecanoate and dibutyltin diacetate were used as catalysts.
• An ecotoxicological test battery was performed on the leachates of the coatings.
• Tin-catalysed coatings were highly toxic against at least two of the four test organisms.
• Bismuth-catalysed coatings did not show any toxic effect.

Novel films were prepared by condensation curing reaction of a poly(dimethyl siloxane) (PDMS) matrix with bismuth neodecanoate and dibutyltin diacetate catalysts. An ecotoxicological study was performed on the leachates of the coatings using the bacterium Vibrio fischeri, the unicellular alga Dunaliella tertiolecta, the crustacean Artemia salina and the fish Sparus aurata (larvae) as testing organisms. A copper-based self-polishing commercial paint was also tested as reference. The results showed that the tin-catalysed coatings and the copper paint were highly toxic against at least two of the four test organisms, whereas bismuth-catalysed coatings did not show any toxic effect. Moreover, the same biological assessment was also carried out on PDMS coatings containing a surface-active fluorinated polymer. The toxicity of the entire polymeric system resulted only from the tin catalyst used for the condensation curing reaction, as the bismuth catalysed coatings incorporating the surface-active polymer remained atoxic toward all the tested organisms.