Sulfur doped N-rich nitrogen carbon nanocatalysts for enhancing photocatalytic reduction of uranium(VI)

Here, sulfur doped N-rich nitrogen carbon (S@CN) was designed to reduce uranium(VI). S doping replaced the lattice nitrogen of CN, which make 2.0S@CN possess narrower bandgap, more negative conduction band, higher photocurrent intensity, lower electric resistance and emission intensity than those of CN, thus showing higher photocatalysis activity. The photocatalytic uranium(VI) separation rate by 2.0 S@CN almost approached 100% under irradiation, which was about twice that of CN. Besides, the uranium(VI) separation rate of 2.0 S@CN after fifth cycles was still more than 90%, meaning that 2.0 S@CN had good recoverability, which possessed great potential for water environment renovation.