Very similar to this one: revtex incompatible with dblfloatfix?
Is revtex known to be incompatible with stfloats? In this MWE, the second figure is just gone (with a "Float cannot be placed" warning):
%\documentclass[twocolumn]{article}
\documentclass[twocolumn]{revtex4-1}
\usepackage{stfloats}
\usepackage{lipsum}
\begin{document}
\begin{figure*}[t]
\caption{I'm here in both cases!}
\end{figure*}
\lipsum[1-5]
\begin{figure*}[b]
\caption{I'm gone with revtex!}
\end{figure*}
\lipsum[1-5]
\end{document}
Using article instead works, and removing stfloats makes the figure appear (but on top of the third page, instead of bottom of second).