Qiuchen He

Mechanisms on the Sterilization Performance of Fluorocarbon Resin Composite Coatings Enhanced by g-C3N4/TiO2

Photocatalysts have been widely applied in marine biofouling because of the production of strong oxidizing hydroxyl radicals (·OH). Numerous studies have shown that marine biological attachment begins from the microbial attachment, and ·OH inhibit microbial activity. In this study, TiO2 modified by g-C3N4 and used in fluorocarbon resin (PEVE) coatings to improve the sterilization performance. The as-prepared photocatalysts were investigated by X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, UV–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy, scanning electron microcopy, high-resolution transmission electron microscopy, and electrochemical experiments. In the sterilization experiment, the sterilization performance of the PEVE composite coatings was enhanced by adding TiO2 and g-C3N4/TiO2 under UV and visible-light irradiation. When the g-C3N4 content in TiO2 was 5%, the PEVE coatings achieved the best sterilization ability. This work holds great value through the application of photocatalyst technology in coatings to address marine biofouling problems.