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Influence of Surface-Energy Components of Ni-P-TiO2-PTFE Nanocomposite Coatings on Bacterial Adhesion

Costs due to heat exchanger fouling have been estimated as 0.25% of the GNP of industrialised countries (http://www.heatexchanger-fouling.com/index.htm), about £1billion per year for the UK. In this article, the authors developed a new Ni-P-TiO2-PTFE nanocomposite coating with improved anti-fouling property, using the CQ ratio concept. The authors found that the addition TiO2 increases the electron donor surface energy while the addition of PTFE decreases LW apolar surface energy, leading to lower CQ ratio and improved anti-fouling property. Through the EC FP7 BIOSURF-232172 project we found that the new coatings reduce heat exchanger biofouling by up to 88%.