Until now, traditional hydrogels have no long-term application in ship antifouling owing to their poor mechanical properties. Herein, the synergetic application strategy of nitrogen-doped carbon dots loaded silica (SiO₂@N-CDs) nanoparticles to enhance polyethylene glycol (PEG) hydrogel membrane was proposed. The incorporation of SiO₂@N-CDs improves the water retention and mechanical properties of the hydrogel. Importantly, the SiO₂@N-CDs/PEG hydrogel exhibits remarkable antiadhesion capacity against bacteria, showing excellent antifouling performance. Fluorescence distribution analysis indicates alterations in the surface and fracture morphology of the hydrogel owing to SiO₂@N-CDs, with a “twill-fold” change in fracture. In addition, molecular dynamics simulations show that SiO₂ enhances the hydration layer of the hydrogel, contributing to its enhanced water retention effect. These findings provide avenues for the development of ship antifouling materials.

中文翻译：

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用于跟踪和防污的坚固荧光二氧化硅/聚乙二醇水凝胶膜

目前，传统水凝胶由于机械性能较差，在船舶防污方面未能长期应用。在此，提出了氮掺杂碳点负载二氧化硅（SiO ₂ @N-CDs）纳米粒子增强聚乙二醇（PEG）水凝胶膜的协同应用策略。 SiO ₂ @N-CDs的加入提高了水凝胶的保水性和机械性能。重要的是，SiO ₂ @N-CDs/PEG水凝胶对细菌表现出显着的抗粘附能力，表现出优异的防污性能。荧光分布分析表明，由于SiO ₂ @N-CDs，水凝胶的表面和断裂形态发生了变化，断裂发生了“斜纹折叠”变化。此外，分子动力学模拟表明SiO ₂增强了水凝胶的水化层，有助于其增强保水效果。这些发现为船舶防污材料的开发提供了途径。