Abstract
Tetramethylphosphoric acid, guanidine dodecyl monohydrochloride, and sodium molybdate can be easily synthesized into an antibacterial material (TNG) that is almost insoluble in water. However, TNG still has limitations when used directly as a protective layer on metal surfaces. Nevertheless, TNG can serve as a coating enhancer, significantly improving the hydrophobicity of the coating while maintaining its hardness. TNG enhances the corrosion resistance of epoxy coatings against microbial attack caused by sulfate reducing bacteria (SRB) biofilm. The epoxy coating enhanced by TNG effectively inhibited the formation of SRB biofilm and kill a few sessile cells. Compared to coatings not enhanced with TNG, the corrosion current density was reduced by 3460 times. A dynamic corrosion test conducted over 9 months in the Yangtze River basin demonstrated that the stable presence of TNG in the epoxy coating achieves long-term inhibition of biofouling in real-world environments.
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Acknowledgements
This work is supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (52171069) and (52401092), and Open Fund for the National Innovation Center for Market Supervision (Safety of Oil and Gas Pipelines and Storage Equipment) of the China Special Equipment Inspection & Research Institute (CXZX-YQGDYCCSBAQ-2024-001). Special thanks to Yanhe Liu from the China Special Equipment Inspection and Research Institute for his significant support in this work. We also acknowledge the support of the Analytical and Testing Center of Huazhong University of Science and Technology.
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The study was proposed by X.Z., Z.T., L.H., and H.R. Sample preparation, experimental procedures, and data collection were carried out by X.Z., H.Y., Z.T., and W.H. Coating hardness and adhesion tests were conducted by W.J. and W.H. Field experiments in the Yangtze River basin were performed by W.J. and Z.X. Data analysis and interpretation were performed by X.Z. and W.H. under the supervision of H.R. and L.F. The initial draft was prepared by X.Z. and revised by all authors; the final revision was completed by X.Z. All authors approved the submitted manuscript version. Funding acquisition and resource management were handled by L.H., Z.T., and X.Z.
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Xu, Z., Zhang, T., He, Y. et al. Improving long-term control of microbial corrosion and biofouling by a novel insoluble antimicrobial enhancer. npj Mater Degrad (2026). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00734-z
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41529-025-00734-z
