A Survey on Development of Anti-fouling Materials

The ships in the sea can be fouled by many types of marine life, which can increase the navigating resistance and fuel consumption. The researches on anti-fouling materials and biofouling characteristics are described. The low-surface energy coating is widely used at present time since it can weaken the anchoring strength of the biofouling to the ship. Many researchers put their focus on developing the hydrophobic and biomimetic materials because these kinds of materials have excellent features in self-cleaning and antisepsis. On the basis of discussion and analysis on the present situation, some problems and shortcomings are pointed out and some suggestions to develop the anti-fouling materials are put forward.