The accumulation of microorganisms, algae, mussels, and barnacles on the hull of sea vessels leads to biofouling, surface corrosion, and increased drag as the vessel moves through water costing the marine industry around $15 billion/year. Current commercial traditional antifouling coatings suffer from reduced energy efficiency and short lifespan and contain heavy metals that are toxic to marine organisms and humans. The banning of these coatings is due to environmental concerns, and nonbiocidal alternatives such as polymer-based coatings are being sought after. This review demonstrates emerging promises of hydrogel fouling-release coatings (FRCs) in the marine environment that may be effective against a prevalent amount of biofouling agents. The review also highlights the importance of polymer backbone materials with surface wettability characteristics possessing hydrophobic, hydrophilic, and zwitterionic properties and further discusses emerging antifouling techniques, synthesis of hydrogel, swelling behavior of hydrogel, laboratory assays of hydrogel coating, marine field test, and outlook of hydrogel fouling-release (FRCs) coatings.

微生物、藻类、贻贝和藤壶在海船船体上的积累会导致生物污垢、表面腐蚀以及船舶在水中移动时阻力增加，每年给海洋产业造成约 150 亿美元的损失。目前商用的传统防污涂料存在能源效率低、寿命短的问题，并且含有对海洋生物和人类有毒的重金属。禁止使用这些涂料是出于环境问题，并且人们正在寻求非杀菌替代品，例如基于聚合物的涂料。本综述证明了水凝胶除垢涂层（FRC）在海洋环境中的新前景，它可能有效对抗大量的生物污垢剂。该综述还强调了具有疏水性、亲水性和两性离子特性的表面润湿性聚合物骨架材料的重要性，并进一步讨论了新兴的防污技术、水凝胶的合成、水凝胶的膨胀行为、水凝胶涂层的实验室分析、海洋现场测试和展望水凝胶除垢（FRC）涂层的研究。