There is an increasing interest in developing smart or stimuli responsive polymers as coatings to prevent biofouling. However, external chemical/physical stimuli must be selectively
applied to the smart polymers to induce the cleaning mechanism; this procedure limits their applicability at industrial scale.
The unique idea of this project is to develop smart polymeric surfaces that, triggered by chemical stimuli induced by the actual biofilms that are central to fouling processes. The technical work included the preparation and characterization of smart materials based on soft hydrogels, which were adapted to respond to the smallest variations of the environmental chemical composition. New polymers were synthesized and tested. The gels were characterized by means of spectroscopy and microscopy and finally tested against fouling agents.
