New PUDF Coating Offers Full-Ocean-Depth Antifouling and Anticorrosion Shield
- MM24 News Desk
- Oct 29
- 2 min read
The full-ocean-depth-oriented coating for integrated antifouling and anticorrosion. Image by NIMTE
A research team from the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering (NIMTE) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has developed an innovative poly(oxime-urethane) (PUDF) coating specifically engineered for use at full-ocean depths. This newly designed material delivers powerful antifouling and anticorrosion protection, addressing one of the most persistent challenges in marine engineering.
The deep ocean represents one of the most extreme and least explored environments on Earth. As marine exploration and engineering projects extend to full-ocean-depth operations, equipment must endure intense hydrostatic pressures, extreme salinity, and complex microbial ecosystems. These conditions can simultaneously induce biofouling—the accumulation of organisms on submerged surfaces—and corrosion, both of which significantly reduce the lifespan and reliability of deep-sea devices.
Existing multilayer protective systems, while effective in moderate marine environments, are prone to interfacial delamination and functional degradation under such extreme stress, making them unsuitable for long-term deployment in the abyssal depths.
To overcome these challenges, the NIMTE team employed a precise molecular design strategy combined with nanoscale interfacial engineering to create an integrated coating system based on PUDF. Unlike conventional multilayer coatings that separate antifouling and anticorrosion functionalities, this new material merges both properties within a single, cohesive structure. The PUDF matrix incorporates antibacterial molecules known as DFFD alongside graphene oxide nanosheets (GO-COOH), forming a synergistic dual-protection barrier.
The antifouling performance of the PUDF coating stems from its ability to disrupt bacterial purine metabolism and inhibit nucleotide biosynthesis, preventing microbial adhesion and biofilm formation at the molecular level. Simultaneously, the graphene oxide nanosheets establish a robust physical barrier that effectively blocks corrosive ions, oxygen, and metabolic byproducts from reaching the underlying substrate. This dual mechanism enables the coating to maintain its protective functions even in extreme marine conditions, where both biological and chemical degradation processes are highly aggressive.
Comprehensive field and laboratory tests demonstrated the coating’s exceptional durability and reliability. In real-world marine trials, the PUDF coating prevented the attachment of macrofoulers in the East China Sea at a depth of 2 meters, as well as microbial colonization in the Philippine Sea at an extraordinary depth of 7,730 meters.
Furthermore, under simulated deep-sea conditions—featuring high hydrostatic pressure (15 MPa), high salinity, and dense bacterial concentrations—the material exhibited remarkable anticorrosion performance and structural integrity over prolonged immersion periods.
This research not only offers a viable solution for protecting deep-sea equipment but also represents a conceptual advance in the design of multifunctional protective coatings. By integrating antifouling and anticorrosion mechanisms at the molecular level, the PUDF coating provides a new blueprint for developing materials capable of withstanding the harshest environments on Earth and beyond.
The project received support from the CAS Strategic Priority Research Program, the Zhejiang Provincial Postdoctoral Research Project, and other funding initiatives dedicated to advancing marine materials innovation.
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