Decabromodiphenyl ether (BDE209) is a persistent aromatic compound widely associated with environmental pollutants. Given its persistence and possible bioaccumulation, exploring a feasible technique to eradicate BDE209 efficiently is critical for today’s environmentally sustainable societies. Herein, an advanced nanocomposite is elaborately constructed, in which a large number of titanium dioxide ( TiO2) nanoparticles are anchored uniformly on two-dimensional graphene oxide (GO) nanosheets ( TiO2/GO) via a modified Hummer’s method and subsequent solvothermal treatment to achieve efficient photocatalytic degradation BDE209. The obtained TiO2/ GO photocatalyst has excellent photocatalytic due to the intense coupling between conductive GO nanosheets and TiO2 nanoparticles. Under the optimal photocatalytic degradation test conditions, the degradation efficiency of BDE209 is more than 90%. In addition, this study also provides an efficient route for designing highly active catalytic materials.

Technetium-99 (99Tc) is a challenging radionuclide from presents many problems related to safe disposal. The measurement of 99Tc is of particular interest due to its high mobility, and the fact that it is a beta-emitter with a long half-life (t1/2=2.13×105 years) with long-term radiological effects[1]. As an isotopes of 99Tc, 99mTc has been widely applied for medical diagnosis and medical research. It is reported that the 99mTc has been used in 80% of diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures and almost 30 million examinations are conducted worldwide using this isotope. Because 99mTc has a short half-life of 6 h and decays to 99Tc, monitoring and safe disposal of 99Tc from human urine is very important, and concern is increasing every day as global use of 99mTc has increased by more than 4.5×1014 Bq per week and is increasing continuously[2]. However, the current methods for the detection of this radionuclide in such mdium are time consuming and can not satisfy for the low level urine sample analysis. In this work, a method for rapid determination of 99Tc in urine samples was developed. The sample was firstly pre-treated with K2S2O8 to decompose the organic matters combined with 99Tc in 0.5 mol·L−1 HNO3 medium at 100°C. Then the sample solution was loaded to a TEVA column (2 mL) for 99Tc separation and purification. The target element was finally measured by high resolution inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (HR-ICPMS). The developed analytical method was proved to be reliable and can be used to rapid determine low-level 99Tc in urine samples.