In recent years, antifouling (AF) polymers are widely used in marine paints to protect the ship hulls from biofouling. The AF polymer coatings have better leaching characteristics and long lasting efficiency than other conventional formulations. In this study, an attempt has been made to prepare new p-acryloyloxybenzaldehyde(AcBA) polymers to assess their AF efficiency against marine microfoulers. The monomer, AcBA was prepared by the esterification reaction between p-hydroxybenzaldehyde (HBA) and acryloyl chloride (Ac) in presence of triethylamine (TEA) in MEK at 0 degrees C. The reaction was monitored by TLC and the prepared monomer was characterized by UV, IR, H-1-NMR and GC-MS. The homo[poly(AcBA)] and co-polymers [poly(AcBA-co-MMA)] were prepared by solution polymerization using BPO as initiator. To find out the AF activity of prepared polymers, representatives of marine microfoulers, shipfouling bacteria (Bacillus macroides and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) and microalgae (Amphora coffeaeformis and Navicula incerta) were screened. The contact toxicity and diatom attachment assays were conducted with prepared polymers and microfouling formation on coatings was also investigated using a tubular biofilm reactor. AF potential of these polymers coating is demonstrated. (C) 2009 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 112: 2741-2749, 2009