Engineered Antifouling Microtopographies - Effect of Feature Size, Geometry and Roughness on Settlement of Zoospores of the Green Alga Ulva

JF Schumacher, ML Carman, TG Estes, AW Feinberg, LH Wilson, Maureen Callow, James Callow, John Finlay, AB Brennan

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

335 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

The effect of feature size, geometry, and roughness on the settlement of zoospores of the ship fouling alga Ulva was evaluated using engineered microtopographies in polydimethylsiloxane elastomer. The topographies studied were designed at a feature spacing of 2 microm and all significantly reduced spore settlement compared to a smooth surface. An indirect correlation between spore settlement and a newly described engineered roughness index (ERI) was identified. ERI is a dimensionless ratio based on Wenzel's roughness factor, depressed surface fraction, and the degree of freedom of spore movement. Uniform surfaces of either 2 mum diameter circular pillars (ERI=5.0) or 2 microm wide ridges (ERI=6.1) reduced settlement by 36% and 31%, respectively. A novel multi-feature topography consisting of 2 mum diameter circular pillars and 10 microm equilateral triangles (ERI=8.7) reduced spore settlement by 58%. The largest reduction in spore settlement, 77%, was obtained with the Sharklet AF topography (ERI=9.5).
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)55-62
Number of pages8
JournalBiofouling
Volume23
Issue number1-2
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jan 2007

Keywords

  • biofouling
  • surface topography
  • antifouling
  • microtopography
  • algae
  • Ulva

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Engineered Antifouling Microtopographies - Effect of Feature Size, Geometry and Roughness on Settlement of Zoospores of the Green Alga Ulva'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this