Development of environmentally friendly antifouling paints using biodegradable polymer and lower toxic substances

• Lower toxic antifouling paints, containing substance triggering microfouling, have been developed.
• Biodegradable polymer and antimicrofouling substances based paints shows promishing antifouling properties in field tests.
• This paint is lower toxic than traditional biocidal paints.

The development of new antifouling coatings with respect to the marine environment is actually crucial. The aim of the present work is to concept an erodible paint formulated with biodegradable polyester as binders and which combines two modes of prevention: chemical and physical repelling of biofouling. This system is principally dedicated to disturb durable settlement of microfouling. Each component was chosen according to its specific properties: chlorhexidine is a bisdiguanide antiseptic with antibacterial activity, zinc peroxide is an inorganic precursor of high instable entities which react with seawater to create hydrogen peroxide, Tween 85 is a non ionic surfactant disturbing interactions between colonizing organisms and surface. Obtained results highlighted the interest on mixing such molecules to obtain a promising coating with lower toxicity than traditional systems.