Excellent dye degradation performance of FeSiBP amorphous alloys by Fenton-like process

Amorphous alloys are being newly applied in wastewater treatment because of their unique atomic packing structure. They possess excellent degradation efficiency, stability and reusability. In this work, Fe₈₀Si₁₀B₁₀ and Fe₈₃Si₅B₈P₄ amorphous ribbons exhibited advanced catalytic performance for the degradation of Methyl Blue (MB) and Rhodamine B (RhB) dyes, and the color removal reach nearly 100% within 11 min for both the dyes. Compared with the Fe₈₀Si₁₀B₁₀ amorphous ribbon, the Fe₈₃Si₅B₈P₄ ribbon showed higher degradation efficiency due to its lower reaction activation energy, higher electron transfer ability and higher Fe content, and the formation of the galvanic cell between the strong Fe–P bonds and the weak Fe–B bonds. It also exhibited high stability and reusability. The degradation efficiency was improved when the appropriate concentration of H₂O₂ is added. As regards the pH, high degradation efficiency was observed in acidic MB solution, but it decreased as the pH increased up to pH 7. The application of the electro–Fenton–like process is discussed, which can effectively improve the degradation performance in a nearly natural solution. This study presents a high efficiency low-cost catalyst for synthetic dye degradation and expands the functional applications of Fe-based amorphous alloys.