Any surface submerged in seawater is subject to marine organisms, including hundreds of thousands of types of bacteria, algae and mollusks. These marine organisms are often known as fouling or biofouling by the shipping industry. The accumulation of organic material on a surface can have serious impacts on the marine industry. These impacts include increased vessel fuel consumption, Green House Gas emissions and loss of maneuverability due to the deterioration of their underwater hulls. Hull deterioration occurs through coating degradation, biocorrosion and an increase in hull roughness. Biofouling costs the shipping industry billions of dollars per year in transportation expenses (Callow and Callow, 2011).
Antifouling coatings have been a longstanding solution to prevent the accumulation of marine organisms. They have been used extensively by the industry, and usually rely on the leach of a toxic substance such as: