Enhanced antifouling property of fluorocarbon resin coating (PEVE) by the modification of g-C3N4/Ag2WO4 composite step-scheme photocatalyst

In the complex ocean environment, the attachment of marine creatures to the hull of a ship and to marine infrastructure has been a highly important problem. Ag2WO4 is an effective photocatalytic material and bacteriostatic agent that has seen only limited application due to its lack of optical stability and low quantum yield, necessitating the further development of this material. In this work, a fluorocarbon resin coating (PEVE) is used as the matrix and is modified by g-C3N4/Ag2WO4 composite catalysts. Experimental results show that the modified coating exhibits excellent antibacterial ability and cycle stability under visible light. The Step-scheme heterojunction between g-C3N4 and Ag2WO4 inhibited the recombination of the photogenerated electron-hole pairs in the photocatalyst and enhanced the photocatalytic activity and stability. The presence of g-C3N4 contributes to the formation of the beta (beta)-Ag2WO4 metastable phase, and the mechanism contributing to the phase transformation was examined by first-principle calculations for the first time.