The biofouling is a serious technical issue in hydropower facilities operating in a freshwater environment. The presented novel technology of antifouling coating integrates two functionalities of deposited material - biocidal features of copper and superhydrophobicity of the surface. The well-known, low cost copper electroplating process on the steel surface has been modified to achieve a hierarchical micro/nano scaled surface structure. The significantly reduced wettability of the coating surface in combination with biocidal activity of copper increases the surface resistance to biofouling. The influence of selected electroplating parameters in combination with the pretreatment of the substrate steel surface was investigated. The resulted coating surface was tested for durability under slurry flow conditions. Finally, the large component - the intake water filter of hydropower plant - was subject of field testing and was successfully tested for biofouling resistance.
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