Bio-inspired Marine Biofouling-control Coatings Navy SBIR FY2011.2 Sol No.: Navy SBIR FY2011.2 Topic No.: N112-166 Topic Title: Bio-inspired Marine Biofouling-control Coatings Proposal No.: N112-166-0040 Firm: UES, Inc. 4401 Dayton-Xenia Road Dayton, Ohio 45432-1894 Contact: Melanie Tomczak Phone: (937) 426-6900 Web Site: www.ues.com Abstract: The US Navy spends approximately $89M annually on maintenance related to ensuring clean, efficient ship hulls. This cost derives from at least three key problems caused by a phenomenon known as "biofouling": long hours of submerged hull-scraping by Navy divers, frequent repainting of the ships surface, and a reduction of nearly 86% in power at cruising speeds. This "biofouling" is the buildup of small organisms on the ship's surface while dockside; most commonly, barnacles, oysters, and tubeworms. Current technologies targeting this static biofouling leach highly toxic heavy metals into the environment. To achieve a more environmentally friendly means of preventing biofouling, UES is proposing a biologically-inspired coating to prevent the colonization and adhesion of marine biofouling larvae. The bio-based coating will be targeted to simultaneously interact with larval attachment, metamorphosis, and adhesion mechanisms. Furthermore, the proposed technology exploits biologically-derived molecules that are non-toxic by nature, and degrade rapidly when leached into the environment, but not when embedded within the coating method to be developed by UES. Benefits: The novel biologically-derived anti-biofouling coating proposed here will provide increased resistance to larval settlement and subsequent bioadhesive cement formation. The coating developed within this project will be readily incorporated into many commercially available, spray-able paints currently deployed on Navy vessels. The raw ingredients for the coating are bio-safe, being derived from nature and targeted specifically to address cellular mechanisms not detrimental to life processes. Furthermore, although the risk of leaching is low, any molecules that may leach would pose no harm to the environment as they would be rapidly degraded by the pH and salinity of the oceans if removed from the UES coating matrix. UES has assembled a strong team of scientists with demonstrated experience in coatings technologies, modifications to the matrix design, and integrating biologically-derived molecules with materials chemistry. Market analyses have indicated that the global marine coatings market will be worth $4.7B in 2012. Additionally, the costs to the North American commercial industry and the Navy due to maintenance will be $465M combined, annually. With a modest initial investment from UES, it is expected that revenues in the first-year following Phase III will exceed $4.9M, with significant increases annually thereafter. Return