Polyaniline- nano metal oxide incorporated hydrogel coating over polyethylene to combat biofouling in aquaculture cage nettings

Abstract

The demand for protein for feeding the growing population is on the rise. Fish is an excellent and affordable source of protein which contributes significantly to the nutritional security in India. Cage aquaculture is getting popular in India in recent years and is often considered a mitigation measure for the dwindling catches from the marine sector. The aquaculture cages often get bio fouled, which is a major problem that exhausts more than 25 per cent of the operational cost. Biofouling is the accumulation of micro and macro foulers on the submerged surfaces. Polyethylene is the most commonly used material for construction of cages and polyethylene is non-polar in nature and hence the antifouling strategies generally fail. The present study intended to synthesise a polar molecule, polyaniline over the polyethylene and the same was treated with nano metal oxide incorporated hydrogel. Polyaniline and nano copper oxide incorporated hydrogel were synthesized insitu over the polyethylene nettings. The presence of nano metal oxide incorporated hydrogel over polyethylene was confirmed by SEM, FTIR and AFM. The treated materials were exposed to marine and estuarine environments for three months and the results showed excellent biofouling resistance. The methodology highlights the potential application of polyaniline and nano copper oxide incorporated hydrogel in preventing biofouling under marine and estuarine aquaculture environment.