Methods of assessing antifouling and foul-release efficacy of non-toxic marine coatings

Abstract

The ability to assess the performance of novel, non-toxic coatings is essential to developing environmentally benign solutions to control biofouling, which is the accumulation of organisms on man-made structures in aquatic environments. In the past decade, the methods for screening experimental coatings have increased and subsequently improved the ability to down-select the best candidate coatings rapidly. The standard approaches involve a series of assays that first examine the efficacy of non-toxic coatings as antifouling surfaces by quantifying the settlement of algal spores and invertebrate larval stages. Following settlement assays, coatings are often tested for their efficacy at limiting adhesion (i.e. 'foul-release' performance) by using a variety of techniques and marine organisms, including bacteria, algae and invertebrate larval and adult stages. This overview serves to describe the current techniques and technologies used in assessing marine coatings and acts as a gateway into the primary literature.