Study on the preparation and properties of new environmentally friendly antifouling acrylic metal salt resins containing indole derivative group

•Acrylic metal salt resins containing an indole derivative were prepared and characterized.•The addition of the indole derivative not only maintained the self-polishing properties of the resin but also increased the antibacterial properties.•The synthetic resins showed excellent antibacterial properties, algae inhibition properties, anti-protein adsorption and antifouling properties. An indole derivative containing a carbon-carbon double bond was purposefully synthesized by the Friedel-Crafts reaction based on 6-chlorine-1H-indole and characterized by IR, 1H NMR and 13C NMR. Antibacterial and inhibiting algae attachment experiments were carried out on the indole derivative. The indole derivative was indicated to have good antibacterial and algae inhibiting properties, then, was introduced into acrylic metal salt resin. Multifunctional acrylic metal salt resins were synthesized via free radical polymerization and polycondensation reactions using acrylic monomers, the indole derivative, metal salts and naphthenic acid. The synthesized resins were characterized by IR and 1H NMR, and the results showed that these target products were successfully synthesized. The self-polishing and antifouling properties of the multifunctional resins were investigated through inhibiting algae attachment experiment, dynamic simulation experiment, anti-protein adsorption experiment and antifouling test in marine environment. Acrylic metal salt resins containing the indole derivative were proven to have not only self-polishing properties but also better antifouling performance than pure acrylic metal salt resins.