A research article presents a novel design of manganese oxide/poly-L-lysine (MnO₂/PLL) co-decorated carbon fiber cloth (CFC) for solar-driven anti-fouling seawater desalination. The MnO₂ nanosheets (10–30 nm thick, 400–450 nm diameter) were grown on the CFC surface via hydrothermal method, followed by PLL electrostatic adsorption. This co-decoration converts hydrophobic CFC to superhydrophilic CFC/MnO₂/PLL, reducing the evaporation enthalpy of bulk water to 2132.34 kJ kg⁻¹. The CFC/MnO₂/PLL exhibits strong photoabsorption (280–2500 nm, 97.8% efficiency) and excellent antibacterial performance (99.1 ± 0.2% against E. coli, 98.2 ± 0.5% against S. aureus) due to electrostatic interaction between PLL and bacterial cell membranes. When hung between seawater and empty tanks, the CFC/MnO₂/PLL shows a high evaporation rate of 2.20 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ under 1.0 kW m⁻² light irradiation. During long-term tests (12 h), no salt accumulation or bacterial contamination occurs on the surface, indicating long-term anti-fouling performance. This work provides new possibilities for rational design of photothermal fabrics for solar-enabled efficient anti-fouling seawater desalination. The key challenges in solar-driven evaporation include high evaporation enthalpy, low photoabsorption efficiency, and microbial contamination. The study addresses these issues by reducing evaporation enthalpy, enhancing photoabsorption, and improving antibacterial performance through MnO₂/PLL co-decoration. Black CFC has good flexibility, mechanical strength, photoabsorption, and photothermal conversion properties, but its hydrophobicity limits direct use in seawater desalination. MnO₂ has a low bandgap (≈1.3 eV), broad and strong photoabsorption, and good photothermal performance. PLL, a cationic bio-polyelectrolyte, can destroy bacteria via electrostatic interaction and may disturb the hydrogen bonds' networks of H₂O molecules. The co-decoration of CFC with MnO₂ and PLL enhances photoabsorption and antibacterial performance while reducing evaporation enthalpy.A research article presents a novel design of manganese oxide/poly-L-lysine (MnO₂/PLL) co-decorated carbon fiber cloth (CFC) for solar-driven anti-fouling seawater desalination. The MnO₂ nanosheets (10–30 nm thick, 400–450 nm diameter) were grown on the CFC surface via hydrothermal method, followed by PLL electrostatic adsorption. This co-decoration converts hydrophobic CFC to superhydrophilic CFC/MnO₂/PLL, reducing the evaporation enthalpy of bulk water to 2132.34 kJ kg⁻¹. The CFC/MnO₂/PLL exhibits strong photoabsorption (280–2500 nm, 97.8% efficiency) and excellent antibacterial performance (99.1 ± 0.2% against E. coli, 98.2 ± 0.5% against S. aureus) due to electrostatic interaction between PLL and bacterial cell membranes. When hung between seawater and empty tanks, the CFC/MnO₂/PLL shows a high evaporation rate of 2.20 kg m⁻² h⁻¹ under 1.0 kW m⁻² light irradiation. During long-term tests (12 h), no salt accumulation or bacterial contamination occurs on the surface, indicating long-term anti-fouling performance. This work provides new possibilities for rational design of photothermal fabrics for solar-enabled efficient anti-fouling seawater desalination. The key challenges in solar-driven evaporation include high evaporation enthalpy, low photoabsorption efficiency, and microbial contamination. The study addresses these issues by reducing evaporation enthalpy, enhancing photoabsorption, and improving antibacterial performance through MnO₂/PLL co-decoration. Black CFC has good flexibility, mechanical strength, photoabsorption, and photothermal conversion properties, but its hydrophobicity limits direct use in seawater desalination. MnO₂ has a low bandgap (≈1.3 eV), broad and strong photoabsorption, and good photothermal performance. PLL, a cationic bio-polyelectrolyte, can destroy bacteria via electrostatic interaction and may disturb the hydrogen bonds' networks of H₂O molecules. The co-decoration of CFC with MnO₂ and PLL enhances photoabsorption and antibacterial performance while reducing evaporation enthalpy.