The effect of a marine bacterial Cytophaga lytica (C. lytica) biofilm on the adhesion and retention of a pseudobarnacle (epoxy adhesive) to platinum-cured silicone coatings was investigated at varying coating thickness (100-800 μm), modulus (E=0.08-1.3MPa), and shear rate (2-22 μm/s). The initial adhesion of C. lytica biofilm on the silicone coating surfaces was increased as the coating modulus was increased. Nonetheless, the adhesion strength of the pseudobarnacle was not significantly influenced by the attached biofilms, with its strength decreasing with increasing
the coating modulus. Thus, these results suggest that the pseudobarnacle adhesion strength would be primarily determined by physico-mechanical properties of the silicone coatings. Also, the adhesion/detachment tests demonstrated that the retention of the pseudobarnacle after water jetting was minimal for the soft silicone coating (VP1), which showed better performance than the widely acceptable silicone resin of DC 3140.