Anti-biofouling photothermal film for solar steam generation based on oxygen defects rich and haloperoxidase mimic active V6O13

Abstract

As a promising sea water desalination technique, solar evaporation has attracted massive attention. But in solar steam generation system, the photothermal film often becomes invalid because of bio-fouling. Haloperoxidase is an ideal choice to reverse this situation, which can catalyze conversion from Br- to HBrO and prevent adhesion of microorganism directly. Herein, oxygen defect rich V6O13 with high photothermal conversion efficiency and haloperoxidase mimic activity is synthesized. As confirmed by Density Function Theory calculations, oxygen defect can strengthen adsorption of V6O13 towards H2O2 and Br-, which enhances haloperoxidase mimic activity greatly. Oxygen defect rich V6O13 also exhibits excellent photothermal conversion property. A photothermal film is fabricated from oxygen defect rich V6O13 and polyacrylonitrile with electrospinning technique. Under 1 ​kW ​m−2, its evaporation rate reaches 1.25 ​kg ​m−2 ​h−1 with efficiency of 85.3%. The concentrations of Na+, K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ have satisfied the standard of drinking water. More importantly, haloperoxidase mimic activity endows the film perfect anti-biofouling ability and suitable for long time water evaporation in marine environment. It can be expected photothermal film with anti-biofouling ability will exhibits a promising prospect in seawater desalination and sewage treatment.