Transition Metal Engineering of Molybdenum Disulfide Nanozyme for Biomimicking Anti-Biofouling in Seawater

Nature has evolved diverse strategies to battle surface biofouling colonization and thus provides us novel insights into designing and developing advanced nontoxic antibiofouling materials and technologies. Mimicking the defense mechanisms of natural haloperoxidases in marine algae in response to biofilm colonization, here we show that the less active MoS 2 shows efficient haloperoxidase-mimicking activity through judicious transition metal engineering. Cobalt-doped MoS 2 (Co–MoS 2 ) displays an excellent haloperoxidase-mimicking performance in catalyzing the Br – oxidation into germicidal HOBr, roughly 2 and 23 times higher than the nickel-doped MoS 2 and pristine MoS 2, respectively. Accordingly, Co–MoS 2 shows an outstanding antimicrobial effect against drug-resistant bacteria and antibiofouling performance in real field tests in marine environments. The realization of robust haloperoxidase-mimicking activity of MoS 2 via metal engineering may open a new avenue to design highly active transition metal dichalcogenides for antibacterial and antibiofouling applications.