Correlative Assays of Barnacle Cyprid Behaviour for the Laboratory Evaluation of Antifouling Coatings: A Study of Surface Energy Components

Department

Natural Sciences

Document Type

Article

Publication Source

Biofouling

Publication Date

2019-03-11

Volume

35

Issue

2

First Page

159

Last Page

172

Abstract

Laboratory evaluation of antifouling coatings is underpinned by settlement studies with specific fouling organisms. Established methods provide insight into the likelihood of failure of a particular coating system, but can neglect the process of surface selection that often precedes attachment. The present approach for quantifying the exploratory behaviour of barnacle cypris larvae suggested that inspection behaviour can be a rapid and predictive proxy for settlement. Two series of xerogels with comparable total surface energy, but different dispersive and polar components, were evaluated. Settlement assays with three-day-old cyprids of Balanus improvisus demonstrated that while attachment was not linked directly to dispersive free energy, the composition of the xerogel was nevertheless significant. Behavioural analysis provided insight into the mechanism of surface rejection. In the case of a 50:50 PH/TEOS (phenyltriethoxysilane-based) xerogel vs a 50:50 TFP/TEOS (3,3,3-trifluoropropyltrimethoxysilane-based) xerogel, wide-searching behaviour was absent on the former.

Keywords

Barnacle, antifouling, settlement behaviour, behavioural analysis, cyprid, xerogel

DOI

10.1080/08927014.2019.1577394

https://doi.org/10.1080/08927014.2019.1577394

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