Development of anti-biofouling surfaces via vapor phase synthesis

Abstract

Biofouling is a phenomenon in which bio-derived substances such as microorganisms or biomolecules adsorb and accumulate on wet, solid surfaces. Biofouling, ubiquitous in our living environments and industrial fields, should be resolved since it causes severe pathogenic and economic threats. Among the various anti-biofouling strategies, surface modification methods, especially surface coating with synthetic polymers, have been widely studied due to their various advantages, such as non-toxicity and high versatility. This dissertation suggests vapor-based synthetic processes to fabricate a high-performance anti-biofouling polymer coating to solve the issues inherent in the conventional liquid-based processes. The vapor-based methods can deposit a high-purity polymeric surface with excellent uniformity and form a copolymer through uniform mixing in the vapor phase without phase separation. In the first chapter, a hydrophobic fouling-release surface was developed with sulfur as a raw material, which is challenging to stabilize into a polymer by liquid-based process, to replace conventional raw materials for fabricating fouling-release surfaces such as fluorine and silicon that have environmental toxicity. In the following chapter, an initial chemical vapor deposition (iCVD) process was utilized as a synthesis tool to fuse different types of monomers, which is challenging in the liquid-based process, to fabricate a hydrophilic polymer surface with durability and superior fouling-resistance against biomolecular adsorption. In the last chapter, the developed materials were utilized to apply in the membrane filtration process, which is a field highly requiring anti-biofouling properties. To sum up, this study presents an important milestone in developing anti-biofouling polymeric materials and the realization of high-performance anti-biofouling surfaces.