An antifouling article including a base material, a diamond-like carbon layer and an antifouling coating layer formed of a surface-treating agent on the diamond-like carbon layer. The surface-treating agent includes a group having a carbon-carbon unsaturated bond, a group having a carbon-nitrogen unsaturated bond, or a leaving group.

Fouling on the surface of biomaterials and medical devices by proteins and microorganisms in the body severely hinders device functionality and drastically shortens lifetime. Currently, there is high demand for coatings that mitigate this biofouling. In this invention, the use of polyacrylamides has been explored in hydrogel coatings by building the largest library of acrylamide-based copolymer anti-biofouling hydrogels (>160 combinations) to date. A combinatorial approach was used, exploiting the ease of hydrogel synthesis to examine a high-throughput screening of platelet adhesion, precursor to thrombosis and a common culprit in biofouling. Applicability has been demonstrated of top-performing polyacrylamide-based hydrogel by (i) coating affinity-based electrochemical biosensors in vitro in a whole blood assay, and (ii) through coating an electrochemical aptamer-based device for real-time monitoring of analytes in an in vivo closed-loop system.

Provided is a graft copolymer and a treatment method which give excellent antifouling property to a substrate, especially a carpet. The graft copolymer has a trunk polymer having a hydroxyl group; and a branch having a C.sub.7-40 hydrocarbon group bonded to the trunk polymer at a carbon atom substituted with the hydroxyl group, wherein the branch has a repeating unit formed from an acrylic monomer represented by the formula: CH.sub.2═C(—X)—C(═O)—Y.sup.1—Z(—Y.sup.2—R).sub.n. The treatment method include applying the graft copolymer to the substrate.

A surface-treating agent including a perfluoro(poly)ether group-containing silane compound and a perfluoro(poly)ether group-containing compound. The perfluoro(poly)ether group-containing compound contains a radical capturing group or a UV absorbing group in the molecule.

The invention relates to curable coating compositions containing at least one surface modifying amphiphilic additive; and at least one siloxane-polyurethane coating composition. The invention also relates to methods of making and using the curable coating compositions of the invention. The invention also relates to objects coated with the curable coating composition of the invention. The invention also relates to methods for reducing or preventing biofouling of a surface exposed to an aqueous environment comprising the steps of coating the surface with the curable coating composition of the invention to form a coated surface, and curing the coating composition on the coated surface. The invention also relates to a marine fouling-release coating containing the curable coating composition of the invention.

The present invention enables the achievement of a coating agent composition which contains a perfluoropolyether compound (A) of a specific structure, and dissolves into at least one volatile organic solvent that does not contain a fluorine atom without using a fluorine-containing solvent having a boiling point of 260° C. or less at atmospheric pressure by setting the content ratio of a non-functional perfluoropolyether compound (B) relative to a total of 100% by mole of the component (A) and the component (B) to less than 2.5% by mole, while forming a cured coating film by being rapidly cured on a base material, said cured coating film firmly adhering to the base material and exhibiting excellent water repellent oil repellent properties, sliding properties, mold releasability and the like.

The present invention relates to a method for treating a surface in order to improve the removability of microorganisms from the surface, comprising the steps: —applying a treatment solution onto the surface, wherein the treatment solution comprises an aqueous solution of a collagen hydrolysate; and—allowing the surface to dry. The present invention further relates to the use of collagen hydrolysate for treating a surface in order to improve the removability of microorganisms from the surface.

Described herein are anti-microbial and UV-protective biological devices and extracts produced therefrom. The biological devices include microbial cells transformed with a DNA construct containing genes for producing proteins such as, for example, zinc-related protein/oxidase, silicatein, silaffin, and alcohol dehydrogenase. In some instances, the biological devices also include a gene for lipase. Methods for producing and using the devices are also described herein. Finally, compositions and methods for using the devices and extracts to kill microbial species or prevent microbial growth and to reduce or prevent UV-induced damage or exposure to materials, items, plants, and human and animal subjects are described herein. Also disclosed are biological devices producing polyactive carbohydrates and carbo sugars, as well as compositions and articles incorporating both extracts from these devices and the anti-microbial and UV-protective extracts.

Disclosed methods include formulating azobenzene-based polymer networks to induce a modulus change in a highly crosslinked polymer, in vivo, with no external heat requirement and using a benign light as the source of stimuli. A modulus change can be achieved via a coating on the substrate and within the bulk of the substrate via photoexposure. The azobenzene-based polymer network can be formed as a coating or in the bulk of a material from either a glassy composition comprising methyl methacrylate (MMA), poly (methyl methacrylate) (PMMA), and triethylene glycol dimethacrylate (TEGDMA) or a soft material comprising of long-chain difunctional acrylates. The disclosed technology also includes methods of biofilm disruption and removal from the surface of a substrate, and includes methods of inhibiting biofilm growth and cell attachment to a substrate.

A polyether-modified siloxane represented by an average composition formula (1): (R.sub.3SiO.sub.1/2).sub.a(R.sub.2R′SiO.sub.1/2).sub.a′(R.sub.2SiO.sub.2/2).sub.b(RR′SiO.sub.2/2).sub.b′(RSiO.sub.3/2).sub.c(SiO.sub.4/2).sub.d. In the formula (1), “R”s each represent a hydrogen atom, a hydroxy group, a monovalent hydrocarbon group having 1 to 18 carbon atoms, or an alkoxy group having 1 to 10 carbon atoms, “R” 's each represent an organic group selected from groups represented by —C.sub.qH.sub.2q—O—(C.sub.2H.sub.4O).sub.e(C.sub.3H.sub.6O).sub.f—R.sup.1, R.sup.1s each represent a hydrogen atom, a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 30 carbon atoms, or an organic group represented by R.sup.6—(CO)—, and R.sup.6 represents a hydrocarbon group having 1 to 30 carbon atoms. This can provide a novel polyether-modified siloxane that has little environmental impact and that provides excellent antifouling performance.