Grantee Research Project Results

Natural approach in antifouling protection: remedy for safer water for fisherman, boaters, and cargo ships

EPA Grant Number: SU840585
Title: Natural approach in antifouling protection: remedy for safer water for fisherman, boaters, and cargo ships
Investigators: Volkis, Victoria V
Institution: University of Maryland Eastern Shore
EPA Project Officer: Cunniff, Sydney
Phase: I
Project Period: August 1, 2023 through May 13, 2025
Project Amount: $24,958
RFA: 19th Annual P3 Awards: A National Student Design Competition Focusing on People, Prosperity and the Planet Request for Applications (RFA) (2022) RFA Text |  Recipients Lists
Research Category: P3 Awards , P3 Challenge Area - Sustainable and Healthy Communities

Description:

The University of Maryland Eastern Shore (UMES) is an 1890 land grant Historically Black College and University (HBCU) located on rural Delmarva Peninsula, home to more than 12,000 small farms and fishery businesses. The project aims to address the economically costly and environmentally concerning problem of biofouling, the formation of biofilm on submerged surfaces, faced by cargo and military ships, fisheries, and recreational boats, as well as some industries such as petroleum mining, water pipe systems, National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) projects, and even dentistry. Along with rural communities of fishermen and recreational boaters, this project indirectly benefits small farmers, creating new markets for their medical herbs and specialty super fruits. Additionally, the project contributes to the environmental health of marine environments by reducing the transmission of biofilm-generating bacteria by boats and ships beyond their natural habitat to areas where it is invasive and causes uncontrolled algae bloom and contributes to fish and crab mortality.

Based on preliminary positive results obtained in Navy funded research, this proposed research will screen different super fruits and medical herbs as antifouling agents and develop pilot devices to demonstrate our concept of antifouling coatings in long term experiments on models accurately resembling real ships, boats, platforms, and boat launching docks. Our evaluation and testing platform will incorporate development of a demonstration aquarium equipped with water pumps, aerators, water quality sensors, and three-dimensional-printed models of boats and platforms having submerged testing surfaces. Models and pumps will contain the electronics and mechanics required to simulate different turbulence environments of oceans, bays, rivers, and ponds. Aquarium water will be collected using UMES sampling boats in Assawoman Bay and local rivers and ponds. Boat models in this aquarium will be capable of autonomous motion for periods between two weeks to several months. Measurements of water quality and surface analysis of testing objects over time, type of water, turbulence, and type of antifouling coating will be performed, analyzed, and presented.

In such a way, our challenge will be to demonstrate the efficacy of natural extracts formulations in antifouling protection using a custom model aquarium.

Objective:

1) To build pilot aquarium for long term testing of new antifouling formulations on different types of submerged surfaces; (2) To demonstrate the effectiveness and conduct a pilot study of the concept of use of natural extracts encapsulated into biocompatible polymers for antifouling protection of submerged surfaces; (3) to evaluate in long term experiments how water type and parameters, as well as type of plant materials, polymers and solvents influence the ability of the coating to protect against biofouling.

Approach:

We anticipate examining at least five formulations consisting of polymer (polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polylactide, poly-glycolide), and plant extract in polar or non-polar solvent (ethyl acetate, ethanol, chloroform - as solvents; aronia, goldenberries, elderberries, holy basil, young ginger, and hemp - as plants) encapsulated into polymer and coated on surfaces with static (walls of aquarium, boat launches) and dynamic (boat) models. These pilot experiments are necessary steps between laboratory microscopic tests, in which we have obtained our preliminary data, and at-scale tests on real boats and ships that are planned with future funding.

Expected Results:

We will educate students using the modeling aquarium at different stages of their careers - from freshmen to graduate students. We will disseminate the data at the P3 Expo, at national and regional conferences, by publishing in peer reviewed journals, and by educating local community and farmers at the UMES Small Farms Conference, and during the Ag Demonstration Day at the UMES extensions.

Contribution to Pollution Prevention or Control:

This project contributes to pollution prevention, due to the extreme level of ecological changes caused by biofouling. Sections of biofilm, containing chemicals, bacteria, and organisms, eventually detach from the surface of ships and migrate from environments of its origin to environments where it is invasive, as ships move across the globe. Invasive bacteria and species contribute to increased fish mortality, water blooming, and other ecological issues.

The outcomes of this project will address all three components of the P3 approach. It will improve human well-being by avoiding contamination of marine environments from products of biofouling and invasive bacteria, will help to avoid uncontrolled algae bloom, and reduce the cost of fishery and recreational boating through significant reduction of bioaccumulations on the hulls of vessels. It will also lead to reduced use of fuel and will decrease the expenses associated with hull cleaning. This will benefit directly and indirectly not only rural fishery communities but also small rural farms, as well as contribute to undergraduate and graduate education and increased understanding by students of the principles of the P3 approach.

Publications and Presentations:

Publications have been submitted on this project: View all 11 publications for this project

Supplemental Keywords:

biofouling, antifouling protection, natural extracts, biocompatible polymers, protective coating materials

Progress and Final Reports:

2024 Progress Report