Advances in Marine Biofouling Prevention Video Transcript - 2 Minutes

Speaker Key:

McElvany: Steve McElvany, Ph.D., program manager, ONR Environment Quality program
Brennan: Anthony Brennan, Ph.D., professor of material science and engineering, University of Florida
Jiang: Shaoyi Jiang, Ph.D., Boeing-Roundhill Professor at the University of Washington

NARRATOR: U.S. Naval warships and submarines rely on top speed, acceleration and hydroacoustic stealth to achieve their mission. Biofouling, caused by a host of marine organisms submitting themselves to a ship’s hull, dramatically reduces ship performance and costs the U.S. Navy millions of dollars each year in added fuel consumption and extensive maintenance efforts.

NARRATOR: By studying the environment, researchers are learning from nature how to combat the problem. The Office of Naval Research (ONR) is currently exploring two emerging technologies that are proving to be effective at biofouling prevention with much less environmental impact than traditional biocides.

McElvany: The ultimate solution, if you can do it, is stop that settlement process before it happens.

Narrator: At the University of Florida, Dr. Anthony Brennan, professor of material science and engineering, has been investigating the unique texture of shark skin and started modeling its surface pattern in the lab. His idea led to the development of a new technology called Sharklet coating.

Brennan: And what you see from that is this cross pattern which repeats itself all the way across and gives us this shark-like pattern on our surface. So when organisms come along, they are unable to find a position which is stable for them to land.

Narrator: The biodiversity of different ocean environments also creates unique challenges, so across the country on the West Coast, ONR is working with Professor Shaoyi Jiang in the department of chemical engineering at the University of Washington whose work in nonfouling coatings incorporates zwitterionic or mixed-charge compounds with ions that alternative perfectively between positive and negative charges.

Jiang:  Unlike antifouling coating, our coating does not leach any biocides. Unlike the fouling and release coating, our coating is also effective even on stationary surfaces.

Jiang: Unlike antifouling coating, our coating does not leach any biocides. Unlike the fouling and release coating, our coating is also effective even on stationary surfaces.

McElvany: So we’re really trying to look very far forward to get the ultimate solution.

Narrator:  Another innovative Office of Naval Research program where revolutionary research is delivering relevant results.