Janardhan Reddy Koduru received his Ph.D. in chemistry from S.V. University, Tirupati, and Andhra Pradesh in 2007. After completing his three years postdoctoral fellowship at   Kyungpook National University, South Korea, he worked as assistant professor of chemistry at Dongguk University from 2011-2012. He is currently an associate professor of Environmental Engineering at Kwangwoon University, Seoul, South Korea since 2013.

His research interests include the development of low toxicity nanomaterials or nanocomposites by synthetic chemistry or green routes for sustainable energy and environmental remediation applications. He received the prestigious academic awards and best (oral/poster) presentation awards from various national and international Conference societies. He has published over 70 papers and has submitted three Korean patent applications.

 

Lanthanide oxides (RE2O3) have been similar properties like transition metal (III) oxides and have good chemical durability and low phonon energy. Recently, the lanthanum(III) (La(III)) composites was utilized for selectively removal of phosphorus1,2 and that resultant studies have been conclude that the La(III) is superior than to Fe(III) or Al(III) in the pH range of 4.5-8.5. However, Gd2O3 have similar behavior like widely used metal oxides for removal of metal ions, such as La(III), Fe(III) and Al(III). In addition, Gadolinium (Gd) and its oxonium ions possess a large magnetic moment3. Moreover, Gd can combine with nitrogen, carbon, sulfur, phosphorus, boron, selenium, silicon, and arsenic at elevated temperatures, forming binary compounds. However, Gd based nanocomposites have not been applied for waste water treatment so-far. Hence, in the present study, prepared hybrid composites, Lanthanum oxide-Graphene oxide (La(III)-GO) and Gadolinium oxide-Graphene oxide (Gd(III)-GO) for groundwater remediation.

U(VI) found as pollutant sources in aqueous environment such as the groundwater and some surface water contexts. Radionuclides not only originates from the nuclear industry but also from other anthropogenic activities such as lignite burning in power stations, ore processing, and the use of fertilizers4,5. LGO hybrid composite was prepared by simple sonication method. As synthesized LGO composites were well characterized using XRD, XPS, FT-IR and FT-Raman. The surface area and morphology of LGO were studied using SEM-EDX and BET analysis. The spectral characterization studies proved the purity of compound. The surface composition and morphology studies results conclude that the prepared LGO were a smart hybrid for favorable adsorptive removal of uranium. The adsorption studies found that the uranium adsorption onto LGO was achieved more than 95%. The overall results conclude that as prepared LGO can be successfully apply for removal of uranium from real groundwater.