Sustainable antifouling by controlled release from polymer-bound Selektope®

As the maritime industry faces increasing biofouling risk below the waterline, the novel combination of existing, approved antifouling solutions is essential for ensuring that today’s antifouling coatings meet tomorrow’s biofouling challenges.

I-Tech AB, the developers of the antifouling biotechnology, Selektope® and global speciality chemical company, LANXESS have successfully combined their respective antifouling technologies for the first time with promising results.

Antifouling coatings that make use of biocides are the most common type utilised today. However, the number of approved biocides available to paint manufacturers has significantly decreased during the past decade. Therefore, finding new ways to combine existing biocides is essential. Collaborative R&D efforts between biocide suppliers play a key role in supporting the optimisation of future antifouling coating technologies by providing proof of concept and initial R&D findings. This can enable coating manufacturers to fast track product development and improve antifouling performance.

I-Tech’s technology, Selektope^® and LANXESS’ technologies, SEA-NINE™ 211N and SEA-NINE™ ULTRA belong to a rare set of active agents that are approved by regulatory bodies in leading nations for ship repair and ship building markets. This joint R&D work undertaken by I-Tech and LANXESS represents the first time that these solutions have been used as co-biocides in marine antifouling coating formulations.