UV self- Emitting Glass can Prevent Biofilm Formation on Naval Vessels Windows
Abstract
Biofouling causes significant problems for marine vessels and equipment, including operational, functional, and financial hurdles. B,iofilm formation in United States Navy Fleet costs between 180 and 260 million dollars per year. Early stages of biofilm begin to fo,rm during initial vessel submersion forming a slime and growing into complex biofouling communities of barnacles, sponges, and tunic,ates within days. Increased surface roughness increases hydraulic drag and fuel consumption, while corrosion causes significant irre,parable damage to the vessel s components. Biological growth and corrosion also damage oceanographic equipment and decreases the opt,ical transparency of windows used for cameras and communication devices. Current approaches for biofilm prevention on ships include, the use of (i) antifouling coatings such as biocide impregnated surfaces and (ii) fouling release coatings such as low adhesion sur,faces. These methods are short-lived, optically opaque, and cause significant marine environmental repercussions. There is a need to, develop new, transparent, environmentally benign, durable surface treatments to prevent biological fouling on windows of marine ves,sels. UV for biofilm prevention is considered environmentally friendly and is being increasingly investigated due to its affordabil,ity and effectiveness in biofilm prevention. However, it is nearly impossible to distribute adequate light across the surface of int,erest, such as a window. The light rapidly decays as it moves away from the point source due to light diffusion and attenuation. The, ability to emit UV light evenly throughout a substrate would eliminate the barriers to using UV light for biofilm prevention on win,dows of marine vessels. Our approach is to glow UV light from the window to prevent biological attachment and growth. We obtain UV,emission through nono-modification of the window substrate. The project s objective is to provide proof of concept that UV surface-e,mitting (glowing) substrate can prevent biofilm during long-term submersion. The objective will be accomplished through (1) fabricat,ing control and test substrates to emulate a UV emitting naval window, (2) ensuring optical transparency of the substrate after trea,tment, and (3) conducting biological essays after 1 - 4-week submersion to quantify the decrease in biofilm and predict the performa,nce over multi-month deployment. The expected operational performance improvements include (1) elimination of biofouling during lon,g-term vessel deployment while (2) maintaining optical transparency of the window. This performance improvement will eliminate the n,eed for mechanical cleaning and enable more extended missions without interruption. Findings from this study can assist in biofilm p,revention in the entire ship s hull. UV-C radiation would prevent biological growth in both stagnant and fast-moving environments. B,ecause of the low flux needed for biofilm prevention and logarithmic light attenuation as it travels through a medium, UV-C glowing,substrate would not damage surrounding marine life and environments. Last, any benefits of LED technology (ON/OFF cycle, adaptable f,lux, wavelength, ease of handling, long life) would apply to the UV-C emitting windows. The fundamental knowledge gained by this wo,rk includes marine bio-fouler short- and long-term responses to low levels of ultraviolet radiation emission from a surface.
Document Details
- Document Type
- DoD Grant Award
- Publication Date
- Jul 13, 2022
- Source ID
- N000142212540
Entities
People
- Mariana Lopes
Organizations
- Office of Naval Research
- United States Navy
- University of Massachusetts