Photoelectric antifouling performance of molybdenum disulfide/graphite carbon nitride/polyaniline coatings under visible light

[Display omitted] •The PGM coatings were fabricated by a simple physical grinding method.•The PGM coatings exhibit outstanding antibacterial properties under visible light.•The PGM coatings shows excellent photovoltaic conversion performance.•The possible antifouling mechanism of PGM coatings was proposed. Biofouling is a major problem in the marine sector, motivating the development of environmentally friendly antifouling coatings. In this study, MoS2/g-C3N4/PANI-CAS (PGM) coatings with excellent photoelectric properties were successfully prepared by a simple physical grinding method, with the antibacterial inhibition performance of the coatings evaluated against E. coli and S. aureus. Photocurrent measurements showed a compositionally-optimized MoS2/g-C3N4/PANI-CAS coating (PGM-3) to offer a very high photocurrent density (25 µA/cm2) and low electrochemical impedance (approximately 82 Ω) under visible light irradiation. Antibacterial tests revealed the PGM coatings to offer excellent antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli (E. coli) and Staphylococcus aureus (S. aureus), with the PGM-3 delivering inhibition activities of 99.61 % and 98.13 %, respectively, under photoelectric conditions. This study demonstrates the excellent antifouling potential of PGM coatings as antifouling coatings with potential for use in marine applications.