Study on the Performance of Cerium Oxide Incorporated Antifouling Paint

Marine biofouling on ship hulls is a global issue that poses risk to the financial losses due to higher both of fuel and maintenance cost. In order to prevent the settlement of marine biofouling on ship hulls, antifouling paints are commonly used. Commercial antifouling paints release toxic biocides to kill the marine biofouling. To improve the effectiveness of biocides in commercial antifouling paint, the development of environtmentally friendly booster biocide is critically needed. In this work, cerium oxide used as booster biocide in commercial copper oxide based antifouling paint. Micron-sized cerium oxide with various concentration 0.1%, 0.3%, and 0.5%wt were added in commercial antifouling paint formulation to obtain the modified antifouling paint. The modified of antifouling paints were applied on mild steel surface to investigate the performance using contact angle test, adhesive test, and Scanning Electrone Microscope (SEM). The release rate of the biocide also observed using leaching out test based on ASTM D6442 to understand the effect of cerium oxide on the release rate of copper ions. Electrochemical Impedance Spectroscopy (EIS) was employed to study the mechanism of cerium oxide as booster biocide in antifouling paint system. The result showed that cerium oxide was successful in improving biocide performance in commercial antifouling paint.