The article introduced advantages and disadvantages of waterborne acrylic acid, epoxy resin, polyurethane, organosilicone, organofluorine and nano particles and briefly summarized the research progress of epoxy-modified waterborne acrylic, urethane modified waterborne acrylic, silicone-modified waterborne acrylic, waterborne acrylic and fluorine-modified organic nanoparticle-modified acrylic waterborne. Research prospective and existing problems were also included. The modification method could achieve excellent comprehensive properties of waterborne acrylic resine, and thereby greatly improved the performance of water-based acrylic paint and expanded the application range of water-borne acrylic coatings. Functional appli-cations of acrylic paint were introduced by category. For the waterborne acrylic, its important applications in waterproof coatings, fire retardant paintings, anti-corrosion coatings, marine antifouling coatings and insulation coatings and other functional directions were described mainly. Key points and difficulties in the application research of water-borne acrylic coatings were also pointed out. It was proposed that waterborne acrylic coating will move towards high-performance and multi-function.