Complete mineralization of a humic acid by SO4•- generated on CoMoO4/gC3N4 under visible-light irradiation

The sulfate radical (SO4 center dot-), almost a most active species, is believed to be the best oxidant in the elimination of aquatic organics in advanced oxidation processes. However, acquiring their steady-state generation with high concentration is still challenging work. In this report, we focused on designing a novel composite, in which uniform and rod-like CoMoO4 was fabricated on gC(3)N(4) through Co-N coordination. In this way, the composite acquired an immobilization of Co (II) in its refraining from leaking, and synchronically, a dense heterojunction between CoMoO 4 and gC(3)N(4). Over the heterojunctions, photogenerated electrons gained a prolonged lifetime through their efficient separation from holes. The life-prolonged electrons, together with Co (II) in CoMoO4, effectively activated the persulfate, and a concentration of steady-state SO4 center dot- as high as 1.8 x 10(-14) mol . l(-1) was obtained. With SO4 center dot- fast and complete mineralization of a humic acid was achieved.