Two combine on antifouling

Swedish biotech I-Tech and Lanxess have combined their respective marine antifouling technologies for the first time, with what they claim to be promising results. This follows tests on 35 paint formulations with a 12-month lifespan in static testing environments in the Caribbean, Eastern North Sea, the North Mediterranean and Sea of Japan.

The formulations combined I-Tech’s Selektope, a non-metal active agent that prevents barnacle attachment on submerged surfaces such as ship hulls and other marine installations, with Lanxess’s Sea-Nine 211N and Ultra families of biocides based on the active substance DCOIT. Both are widely approved the ship repair and shipbuilding markets.

After six months all of the test paint formulations had performed as well as, or better than, the commercial paint references. Formulations containing 2% Sea-Nine Ultra and 0.1% Selektope “showed excellent performance at reduced total biocide concentrations”, the two companies stated.

With the number of approved biocides available to paint manufacturers decreasing significantly during the past decade, Lanxess added, “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.”