Attachment of Sedentary Marine Organisms to Petrolatum Surfaces

Summary The action of petrolatum in delaying or preventing the attachment of sedentary marine organisms to submerged surfaces is not consistently altered by changes in consistency, produced by dilution with miscible liquids, or in wettability, produced by incorporation of wetting agents. The alterations observed appear rather to be the result of unknown chemical differences in the coatings. One such difference, characteristic of mixtures of petrolatum with aliphatic sulfonates, was shown to be related to orientation at the surface. It is suggested that the interface between such a mixture and sea water has a negative charge, and that this may be important in its antifouling properties.