Marine biofouling is a well-known massive problem: within the shortest time, ship hulls and other man-made submerged surfaces are inevitably populated by various marine organisms. Marine biofouling causes severe economic and environmental problems. Thus, effective biofouling control on submerged surfaces is of utmost importance. Since the middle of the 20th century, scientists and engineers have developed antifouling coatings mainly based on the continuous release of toxic metal ions and accompanying booster biocides to repel or kill organisms approaching the surface. However, these coatings caused serious harm to non-target organisms and the ocean. Therefore, the development of environmentally friendly alternative coatings is an urgent need, and research in this field is growing rapidly. This review includes concise basic theory from biology, chemistry, and physics. It provides an introduction into the biofouling formation, as well as physicochemical surface properties that can be manipulated to achieve an effective biofouling control. Furthermore, a complete overview of the currently developed biofouling control coatings is presented and summarized. This overview includes coatings based on surface wettability, self-renewable coatings, coatings containing antifouling agents, switchable coatings, and biomimetic coatings.

海洋生物污损是一个众所周知的大问题：在最短的时间内，船体和其他人造水下表面不可避免地会被各种海洋生物占据。海洋生物污损导致严重的经济和环境问题。因此，有效控制水下表面的生物污垢至关重要。自 20 世纪中叶以来，科学家和工程师已经开发出主要基于持续释放有毒金属离子和伴随的增效杀菌剂来排斥或杀死接近表面的生物的防污涂料。然而，这些涂层对非目标生物和海洋造成了严重危害。因此，开发环保的替代涂料迫在眉睫，该领域的研究正在迅速发展。这篇综述包括简明的生物学基础理论，化学，物理。它介绍了生物污垢的形成，以及可以操纵以实现有效的生物污垢控制的物理化学表面特性。此外，还对目前开发的生物污损控制涂层进行了完整的概述和总结。本概述包括基于表面润湿性的涂层、自我更新涂层、含有防污剂的涂层、可切换涂层和仿生涂层。