CHED 800 |
| Marine fouling, the adhesion of marine organisms to surfaces, is a severe environmental and economical concern. We investigate the properties of a thermoresponsive polymer and its ability to prevent adhesion of Mytilus edulis foot protein (mefp), a sample foulant. The polymer consists of an N-isopropylacrylamide (NIPAm) backbone with vinylimidazole (VIm) and N,N′-cystaminebisacrylamide (CBAm) as co-monomers. PolyNIPAm has antifouling properties at environmentally relevant temperatures. The CBAm provides thiols that enable self-assembly on gold. VIm carries antifouling properties and chelates Fe(III), which is critical to the strengthening of mefp. The poly(NIPAm-co-VIm-co-CBAm) is synthesized with 1% CBAm and 0 to 25% VIm. The poly(NIPAm-co-VIm-co-CBAm) is characterized using UV-Vis and FT-IR spectroscopies. The deposition and surface properties of the polymer on gold and stainless steel are studied with a dissipative quartz crystal microbalance and a contact angle goniometry. Results from these experiments show the effects of VIm concentration on properties of poly(NIPAm-co-VIm-co-CBAm). |
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Undergraduate Research Poster Session: Polymer Chemistry
11:00 AM-1:00 PM, Monday, March 26, 2007 Hyatt Regency Chicago -- Riverside Center, Poster
Division of Chemical Education |