Long-term stability of aerophilic metallic surfaces underwater

Tesler A, Kolle S, Prado L, Thievessen I, Böhringer D, Backholm M, Karunakaran B, Nurmi HA, Latikka M, Fischer L, Stafslien S, Cenev ZM, Timonen JV, Bruns M, Mazare AV, Lohbauer U, Virtanen S, Fabry B, Schmuki P, Ras RH, Aizenberg J, Goldmann W (2023)


Publication Type: Journal article

Publication year: 2023

Journal

DOI: 10.1038/s41563-023-01670-6

Abstract

Aerophilic surfaces immersed underwater trap films of air known as plastrons. Plastrons have typically been considered impractical for underwater engineering applications due to their metastable performance. Here, we describe aerophilic titanium alloy (Ti) surfaces with extended plastron lifetimes that are conserved for months underwater. Long-term stability is achieved by the formation of highly rough hierarchically structured surfaces via electrochemical anodization combined with a low-surface-energy coating produced by a fluorinated surfactant. Aerophilic Ti surfaces drastically reduce blood adhesion and, when submerged in water, prevent adhesion of bacteria and marine organisms such as barnacles and mussels. Overall, we demonstrate a general strategy to achieve the long-term stability of plastrons on aerophilic surfaces for previously unattainable underwater applications.

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APA:

Tesler, A., Kolle, S., Prado, L., Thievessen, I., Böhringer, D., Backholm, M.,... Goldmann, W. (2023). Long-term stability of aerophilic metallic surfaces underwater. Nature Materials. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41563-023-01670-6

MLA:

Tesler, Alexander, et al. "Long-term stability of aerophilic metallic surfaces underwater." Nature Materials (2023).

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