Development of Ice Releasing Epoxy-Siloxane Marine Coatings

Abstract

In this study, epoxy-siloxane coatings were prepared and modified using various polysiloxane oil additives with the goal of developing an ice releasing epoxy-siloxane coating. Contact angle, surface energy, and ice adhesion tests were conducted to study the effect each oil additive had on the surface properties of the coatings. Additionally, antifouling and fouling release properties were assessed using two micro-organisms, Cellulophaga lytica and Navicula incerta, and one macro-organism, Amphibalanus Amphitrite (barnacles). The goal of which was to compare the ice and fouling releasing properties of the coatings to see if any correlations could be made between the two. One of the coating formulations yielded lower ice adhesion and barnacle adhesion. The 5% PMDM-010s, coating with oil containing 8-12% phenylmethylsiloxane and 88-92% dimethylsiloxane, showed improved properties compared to the base coating and outperformed the other coating formulations that containing oils of different composition.