Preparation of an environmentally friendly antifouling degradable polyurethane coating material based on medium-length fluorinated diols.

A novel medium-length fluorinated diols and poly(L-lactide) (PLLA) were synthesized via Michael addition reaction and ring-opening polymerization, respectively. Subsequently, Synthetic medium-length fluorinated diols and PLLA were combined to prepare new polyurethane composites with degradability and low surface energy. The compositional analysis and structural characterization of synthetic materials were characterized by using fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR) and proton nuclear magnetic resonance spectra (1HNMR). Thermogravimetric analysis(TGA) indicated that the introduction of medium-length fluorinated diols improved the thermal stability of the polyurethane. The biodegradation and low surface energy of the polyurethane were investigated by static hydrolysis experiment and water contact angle test. It was found that the degradation rate of the polyurethane increased as measurement time went on when the PLLA content was under 40%, and the water contact angle increased from 71.12° to 108.24° with the increase of fluorine content, which indicated that the degradable and low surface energy polyurethane has a potential as a coating material for a marine antifouling coating application. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]