Patent ID: 6899955

Claim:
A process for inhibiting the fouling of a substrate in a marine fouling environment, which comprises forming on the substrate, before exposure to the said environment, a coating comprising a curable fluorinated resin of the general formula: W-L-YFC—O—R f —CFY-L-W wherein L is one or more of the following organic linking groups: a) —(CH 2 —(OCH 2 CH 2 ) n ) m —CO—NR′—(CH 2 ) q , b) —CH 2 O—CH 2 CH 2 CH 2 — c) —CH 2 O—CH 2 —CH(OH)CH 2 —S—(CH 2 ) q wherein R′ is H, C 1 -C 4 alkyl or a phenyl group; m is an integer equal to 1; n is an integer in the range 0-8; q is an integer in the range 1-8; Y is F or CF 3 ; W is a group of general formula —Si(R 1 ) α (OR 2 ) 3-α , wherein α=0, 1, or 2, R 1 and R 2 independently have the meaning of linear or branched C1-C6 alkyl groups, optionally containing one or more ether groups, or C7-C12 aryl or alkyl groups; R f is a group having an average molecular weight by number between 350 and 8000, comprising repeating units having at least one of the following structures randomly distributed along the chain: —CFXO—, —CF 2 CF 2 O—, —CF 2 CF 2 CF 2 O—, —CF 2 CF 2 CF 2 CF 2 O—, —CR 4 R 5 CF 2 CF 2 O—, —(CF(CF 3 )CF 2 O)—, —CF 2 CF(CF 3 )O—, wherein X is F or CF 3 , R 4 and R 5 independently have the meaning of H, Cl, or C1-C4 perfluoroalkyl.