Anti-fouling coatings fabricated from polymers containing ionic species

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11447656-B2
Application number	US-201916273908-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	Feb 12, 2019
Priority date	Dec 18, 2015
Publication date	Sep 20, 2022
Grant date	Sep 20, 2022

Abstract

An anti-fouling coating is provided, containing a continuous matrix comprising a first component; a plurality of inclusions comprising a second component, wherein the first component is a low-surface-energy polymer having a surface energy, and the second component is a hygroscopic material containing one or more ionic species. The low-surface-energy polymer and the hygroscopic material are chemically connected ionically or covalently, such as in a segmented copolymer composition comprising fluoropolymer soft segments and ionic species contained within the soft segments. The continuous matrix and the inclusions form a lubricating surface layer in the presence of humidity. Coefficient-of-friction experimental data is presented for various sample coatings. The incorporation of ionic species into the polymer chain backbone increases the hygroscopic behavior of the overall structure. Improvement in lubrication enables material to be cleared from a surface using the natural motion of an automotive or aerospace vehicle.

First claim

What is claimed is:

1. An anti-fouling coating comprising:
a substantially continuous matrix containing a first component; and
a plurality of inclusions containing a second component, wherein said inclusions are dispersed within said matrix;
wherein one of said first component or said second component is a low-surface-energy polymer having a surface energy between about 5 mJ/m 2 to about 50 mJ/m 2 , and the other of said first component or said second component is a hygroscopic material containing an ionic species,
wherein said low-surface-energy polymer and said hygroscopic material are chemically connected ionically or covalently,
wherein said continuous matrix and said inclusions form a lubricating surface layer in the presence of humidity,
wherein said ionic species consists essentially of an anionic species possessing a charge of −1, or a cationic species possessing a charge of +1,
wherein said ionic species is present in an ionic bond with a counterion consisting essentially of a monovalent ion of opposite charge as said ionic species to form a neutral molecule, wherein said counterion (a) has a charge of +1 when said ionic species consists essentially of an anionic species possessing a charge of −1 and (b) has a charge of −1 when said ionic species consists essentially of a cationic species possessing a charge of +1,
and wherein said counterion is a metal ion.

2. The anti-fouling coating of claim 1 , wherein said low-surface-energy polymer is a fluoropolymer selected from the group consisting of polyfluoroethers, perfluoropolyethers, polyfluoroacrylates, polyfluorosiloxanes, and combinations thereof.

3. The anti-fouling coating of claim 1 , wherein said ionic species is selected from the group consisting of (2,2-bis-(1-(1-methyl imidazolium)-methylpropane-1,3-diol bromide), 1,2-bis(2′-hydroxyethyl)imidazolium bromide, (3-hydroxy-2-(hydroxymethyl)-2-methylpropyl)-3-methyl-1H-3λ 4 -imidazol-1-ium bromide, 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)butyric acid, N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)-2-aminoethanesulfonic acid, N-methyl-2,2′-iminodiethanol, 3-dimethylamino-1,2-propanediol, 2,2-bis(hydroxymethyl)propionic acid, 1,4-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)piperazine, 2,6-diaminocaproic acid, N,N-bis(2-hydroxyethyl)glycine, 2-hydroxypropanoic acid hemicalsium salt, dimethylolpropionic acid, N-methyldiethanolamine, N-ethyldiethanolamine, N-propyldiethanolamine, N-benzyldiethanolamine, N-t-butyldiethanolamine, bis(2-hydroxyethyl) benzylamine, bis(2-hydroxypropyl) aniline, and homologues, combinations, derivatives, or reaction products thereof.

4. The anti-fouling coating of claim 3 , wherein said hygroscopic material consists essentially of said ionic species.

5. The anti-fouling coating of claim 1 , wherein said hygroscopic material includes a material selected from the group consisting of poly(acrylic acid), poly(ethylene glycol), poly(2-hydroxyethyl methacrylate), poly(vinyl imidazole), poly(2-methyl-2-oxazoline), poly(2-ethyl-2-oxazoline), poly(vinylpyrolidone), cellulose, modified cellulose, carboxymethyl cellulose, hydroxyethyl cellulose, hydroxypropyl cellulose, methyl cellulose, hydrogels, PEG diacryalate, monoacrylate, and combinations thereof.

6. The anti-fouling coating of claim 1 , wherein said low-surface-energy polymer and said hygroscopic material are covalently connected in a block copolymer.

7. The anti-fouling coating of claim 1 , wherein said coating further comprises one or more additional components selected from the group consisting of a particulate filler, a substrate adhesion promoter, a pigment, a dye, a plasticizer, a flattening agent, and a flame retardant.

Assignees

• Hrl Lab Llc

Inventors

• Nowak Andrew P
• Gross Adam F
• Rodriguez April R
• Nelson Ashley

Classifications

• C08K5/3445

  Five-membered rings · CPC title

• C08G18/3812

  having fluorine atoms · CPC title

• C08G18/0819

  containing anionic or anionogenic groups · CPC title

• C08G18/758

  containing two or more cycloaliphatic rings · CPC title

• C08G18/348

  Hydroxycarboxylic acids · CPC title