Carbon dots and carbon nitride composite for photocatalytic removal of uranium under air atmosphere

Photocatalytic removal of uranium has attracted much attention in nuclear wastewater treatment and it is highly needed to develop functional photocatalyst with excellent removal performance. In this work, seven kinds of carbon dots/carbon nitride (CDs/CN) composites were synthesized and SerCDs/CN with the best photo-assisted uranium removal performance was screened out. It was found that the introduction of CDs could bring in higher photocurrent density, lower interfacial charge transfer impedance and narrower band gap, resulting in a much-improved removal performance. SerCDs/CN had shown a removal capacity as high as 1690 mg/g and the reaction could be operated under air atmosphere which is promising in real application. Carbon dots and carbon nitride composite material was synthesized for the photocatalytic removal of uranium. Under air atmosphere, H 2 O 2 could be generated to react with uranyl ions to form UO 2 (O 2 )•2H 2 O with a removal capacity higher than 1690 mg/g.