EFFECT OF GRAPHENE COATINGS AND WATER TEMPERATURE ON MARINE BIOFOULING SYSTEMS

Abstract

This work investigated two strategies for controlling marine biofouling. One method involved the use of graphene-enhanced coatings to mitigate biofilm growth. The second study assessed the influence of water temperature on biofouling. Biological annular reactors (ARs) were used to imitate the marine environment and microbiological tests, such as adenosine triphosphate (ATP), heterotrophic plate counts (HPC), protein and carbohydrate concentrations in extracellular polymeric substance (EPS) were used to assess the biofilm accumulation. Graphene-enhanced coatings demonstrated the potential to reduce biomass accumulation. In addition, though higher water temperature accelerates bacterial growth, the bacterial growth efficiency would decline, which leads to less biomass