Martin Wahl

The aim of this project is to study the fate of microplastics in benthic marine environments following three major key questions: How much microplastics have accumulated in surface sediments? Are microorganisms in sediments capable of degrading plastics or toxins released by them? How do microplastics affect particle-ingesting benthic invertebrates? One of the project's major intentions is to establish new protocols for the investigation of marine microplastics in benthic systems, which will serve as the base for future project proposals.

Wetting is the fundamental requirement to obtain a strong adhesive joint by using glue. Underwater this requirement is a major challenge since water has to be displaced from the surface-glue interface. Many marine organisms use an adhesive for permanent or temporary settlement to living and non-living surfaces and although the chemistry of marine adhesives is relatively well known. The exact physical properties, which dictate the wetting behavior of these adhesives on different substrates have been rarely investigated. Within this project we aim to test, in a case study, the polymerization dynamics of fresh barnacle cement in dependence of various abiotic and biotic factors, as well as its wetting properties of surfaces with well-defined surface energies (different polar and non-polar portion). Using the experimental results obtained the wetting behavior of the cement on different substrates can be modelled and compared to our recent work on antifouling surfaces and to literature data and to design optimized surface textures for strong biofouling reduction. Moreover, this project might help to identify important environmental and biogenic factors, other marine organisms may apply as defense strategies against epibiosis.