High efficient photoreduction of U(VI) by a new synergistic photocatalyst of Fe3O4 nanoparticle on GO/g-C3N4 composites

In this study, a novel synergistic photocatalyst (Fe3O4/GO/g-C3N4 composites) were constructed by chemical precipitation of Fe3O4 nanoparticles on surface of GO/g-C3N4 suspension. The characterization results indicated that Fe3O4/GO/g-C3N4 composites exhibited high efficient separation of photogenerated electron-hole pair, narrow bandgap (similar to 2.38 eV) and wide absorption range. The incorporation of Fe3O4 significantly increased the photo catalytic performance of GO/g-C3N4 composites due to synergistic effect. More than 90% of U(VI) was photo-reduced by Fe3O4/GO/g-C3N4 composites within 2 h under visible light irradiation. The trapping experiments and XPS analysis indicated that the photogenerated electrons and superoxide (center dot O-2) radicals are responsible for U(VI) removal. These findings indicated that magnetic g-C3N4 composites can be used as excellent candidates for the high efficient removal of U(VI) in actual environmental cleanup. (c) 2022 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier B.V.This is an open access article under the CC BY-NC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/).