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

The sulfate radical ([Formula: see text]), 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 gC₃N₄ 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 CoMoO₄ and gC₃N₄. 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 [Formula: see text] as high as 1.8 × 10^-14 mol · l^-1 was obtained. With [Formula: see text] fast and complete mineralization of a humic acid was achieved.