Electroactive Polyhydroquinone Coatings for Marine Fouling Prevention-A Rejected Dynamic pH Hypothesis and a Deceiving Artifact in Electrochemical Antifouling Testing.

ABSTRACT: Nanometer-thin coatings of polyhydroquinone (PHQ), which release and absorb protons upon oxidation and reduction, respectively, were tested for electrochemically induced anti-biofouling activity under the hypothesis that a dynamic pH environment would discourage fouling. Antifouling tests in artificial seawater using the marine, biofilm-forming bacterium Vibrio alginolyticus proved the coatings to be ineffective in fouling prevention but revealed a deceiving artifact from the reactive species generated at the counter electrode (CE), even for electrochemical bias potentials as low as |400| mV versus Ag|AgCl. These findings provide valuable information on the preparation of nanothin PHQ coatings and their electrochemical behavior in artificial seawater. The results further demonstrate

SUBMITTER: Larsson M 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6641732 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Aug

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature