Provided are a polymer, a resin composition, and an antifouling coating material composition which are capable of forming a coating film having both of water resistance and antifouling properties resulting from superhydrophilicity; a method for producing the polymer; a method for forming a structure for stabilizing a carbamate on a surface of a coating film using the polymer; and a method for regenerating a structure for stabilizing a carbamate on a surface of a coating film using the polymer. The polymer having a structure which reacts with CO.sub.2 in the presence of water and stabilizes a formed carbamate, in which Expression (1) is satisfied.

Contact angle in water after reaction with CO.sub.2contact angle in water before reaction with CO.sub.210Expression (1)

A composition comprising an ethylene (meth)acrylic acid copolymer and an anti-fouling agent is provided. The composition selectively disintegrates in media of different ionic strengths. Also provided is a method of preventing fouling using the composition.

A surface treatment liquid capable of making a surface of a treatment target hydrophilic or hydrophobic without including a resin having a coating film formation property, and a surface treatment method using the surface treatment liquid. The surface treatment liquid includes a resin, a solvent and a strong acid having a pKa of 1 or less. The resin includes a functional group I that is at least one of a hydroxyl group, a cyano group, and a carboxyl group, and a functional group II that is a hydrophilic group or a hydrophobic group other than the functional group I.

This invention provides multifunctional coatings containing multiple components that usually do not associate with one another, from deposition of waterborne precursor compositions. Some variations provide a multiphase waterborne composition comprising a first-material phase containing a first material and a second-material phase containing a second material that is chemically different than, but covalently bonded to, the first material, wherein the first material and/or the second material contains ionic species. The first-material phase and the second-material phase are microphase-separated on an average length scale of phase inhomogeneity from about 0.1 microns to about 100 microns. The first and second materials may be selected from hydrophobic materials, hydrophilic materials, hygroscopic materials, oleophobic materials, and/or oleophilic materials, for example. Due to the first-material phase and the second-material phase being microphase-separated, the multiphase waterborne composition possesses a simultaneous combination of properties, rather than a combined average. Precursors and methods are also disclosed.

An erodible antifouling coating composition for application, for example, to ship's hulls to potentially prevent the adhesion and build-up of fouling agents on the hull is described. The coating composition includes 10 to 60% by solids weight of an erodible binder system that excludes a triorgano tin based binder; one or more antifouling agents; and 1 to 10% solids weight of a mixture of silicone oils, wherein the mixture includes a first and second silicone oil each comprising alkyl and aryl groups attached to silicone in a different ratio. A process for producing the composition, a substrate coated with the composition, and a process of coating a substrate with the composition are also described.

Provided is a water-repellent member in which a silica layer having a specific thickness and mainly composed of silica nanoparticles is provided on the outer surfaces of various substrates, and then a water- and oil-repellent layer having a specific thickness and containing a cured product of a fluorine-containing organosilicon compound as a main component is provided on the outer surface of the silica layer. The water-repellent member is obtained by a method comprising: a step for wet coating a dispersion containing silica nanoparticles and a solvent onto the outer surface of a substrate; a step for drying and removing the solvent from the dispersion; a step for wet coating a solution containing a fluorine-containing organosilicon compound and a solvent onto the outer surface of a silica layer formed by drying and removing the solvent; and a step for drying and removing the solvent from the solution to cure the fluorine-containing organosilicon compound. According to the water-repellent member, a water- and oil-repellent coating having excellent abrasion resistance can be reliably and easily applied to various substrates.

An inorganic hydrophilic coating solution including (a) an aqueous solution containing an amorphous silicate compound obtained by hydrolyzing and condensing a tetrafunctional silicon compound having a purity of 99.0 mass % or greater in an aqueous medium in the presence of a basic compound at a temperature within a range from normal temperature to 170? C., (b) water, and optionally, (c) not more than 30 mass % of an alcohol, a ketone, or a surfactant, where the concentration of the solid fraction derived from the aqueous solution containing the amorphous silicate compound is 0.01 to 2.0 mass % and the pH is 5 to 8; an inorganic hydrophilic coating film formed from a dried and cured product of the inorganic hydrophilic coating solution; a member having a substrate and the inorganic hydrophilic coating film formed on the surface of the substrate; and a cover panel for a solar cell module including the member.

A water-soluble composition includes reducible copper ions or copper nanoparticles complexed with a reactive polymer. The reactive polymer can be crosslinked using suitable irradiation to provide copper-containing water-insoluble complexes. The water-soluble composition can be used to provide various articles and electrically-conductive materials that can be assembled in electronic devices. The reactive polymer has greater than 1 mol % of recurring units comprising sulfonic acid or sulfonate groups, at least 5 mol % of recurring units comprising a pendant group capable of crosslinking via [2+2] photocycloaddition, and optionally at least 1 mol % of recurring units comprising a pendant amide, amine, hydroxyl, lactam, phosphonic acid, or carboxylic acid group.

The application is directed to polymer coatings which can be modified to control biointerfacial interactions including biofilm formation and protein adsorption onto said coatings. The polymer coatings comprise a First Component comprising epoxide or alkenyl groups, and a Second Component comprising at least one amine group. The polymer coatings further comprise at least one bioactive agent which may control said biofilm formation and/or protein adsorption. Also disclosed herein are methods for producing said coatings incorporating bioactive molecules in one or two step procedures on a substrate. The polymer coating may be immobilised on the substrate via the reaction of functional groups present on the First Component and/or Second Component with complimentary functional groups disposed on at least one surface of the substrate.

A method for preparing a zwitterionic co-polymer comprising the steps of: a) providing a solution of at least one ethylenically unsaturated polymerizable zwitterionic monomer dissolved in a solvent; b) combining said solution of zwitterionic monomer with at least one co-monomer being selected from cationic, anionic and non-ionic ethylenically unsaturated monomers; c) polymerizing the zwitterionic monomer and said at least one co-monomer in the presence of said solvent to form a solution or dispersion of co-polymer; and, d) replacing at least part of said solvent with a further solvent in which said co-polymer shows sufficient solubility to form a solution of said co-polymer in that further solvent. Step b) and step c) of this method may be performed sequentially or concurrently.