Evaluation of release rates and control of biofouling using monolithic coatings containing an isothiazolone

A commercially available isothiazolone, Sea-Nine 211 (c-9211) has been used to study the controlled release characteristics and antifouling behavior of non-ablative coatings based upon a vinyl chloride/vinyl acetate copolymer resin (VYHH). The governing release mechanism was found to be Fickian diffusion when c-9211 is released from a monolithic coating over the course of 30 d. The extent of fouling was evaluated for a number of marine fouling species found at Taylor's Creek, Beaufort, North Carolina, and Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, in relation to the rate of release of c-9211 from the coating. The efficacy of c-9211 as a single antifouling agent was determined based on the minimum flux required to keep the coating free of fouling, c-9211 shows promise against a wide variety of fouling species in the marine environment above a flux of 5–7 μg·cm2·d-1 with the exception of barnacles and to some extent, diatoms, which do not seem to be well controlled by c-9211 at fluxes as high as 15 μg·cm2·d-1. © 1995, Taylor & Francis Group, LLC. All rights reserved.

Duke Scholars

Author Daniel Rittschof Marine Science and Conservation