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Biofouling is a severe problem for many applied technical surfaces ranging from ships and piers to water inlets and medicine. Here we investigate the physical–chemical properties of divalent copper and divalent calcium alginate bulk films and their anti-biofouling properties on the example of Chlorella vulgaris and in a natural river water environment. Physical-chemical characterization includes mechanical characterization of different mixing ratios, oil contact angles, and equilibrium water contents, self-polishing properties and copper ion release of copper alginate and copper-calcium alginate compositions. The results prove highly composition dependent physical–chemical properties. This causes highly composition dependent antibiofouling properties against Chlorella vulgaris, which changes significantly over time due to copper ion release and self-polishing resulting into up to 100 times lower biofouling compared to glass slides. Extending the test to river water, less Chlorella vulgaris compared to pure Chlorella vulgaris solution were determined. The total biofouling, which reached however, saturation of 25% and 35% coverage for copper, and calcium alginate respectively, which is comparable to glass.