Solar light-driven photocatalytic production of hypochlorous acid over Pt/WO3 in seawater for marine antifouling

The hypochlorous acid (HCIO) was synthesized from seawater by the Pt/WO₃ photocatalyst under visible-light irradiation. The effect of WO₃ morphology and Pt loading on the performance of the composite photocatalyst for the production of HCIO has been studied in detail. The study found that among the series of materials, hollow WO₃ microspheres with a diameter of about 3 μm loaded with 1.0 wt% Pt have the best HCIO production performance. Over it, 14.52 μM of HClO (1.24 mg/L of free chlorine) was accumulated in 0.5 M NaCl solution after 2 h of visible-light photoirradiation. What is more, the concentration of HClO can reach 4.34 μM (0.354 mg/L free chlorine) in natural seawater for 1 h using this Pt/WO₃ photocatalyst. Under visible-light irradiation, the Pt/WO₃ photocatalyst has a good broad-spectrum antibacterial activity and the activity of inhibiting marine fouling algae. The Pt/WO₃ photocatalyst has high stability and reusability. All these characteristics are conducive to the application in the field of marine antifouling. Moreover, the photocatalytic reaction mechanism was evaluated by studying the photoelectrochemical properties of Pt/WO₃/FTO. This research provides a new strategy for replacing the traditional electrolytic marine antifouling system with the visible-light-catalyzed HClO production system.