Role of boron in enhancing electron delocalization to improve catalytic activity of Fe-based metallic glasses for persulfate-based advanced oxidation

Abstract

Metallic glasses (MGs) with superior catalytic performance have recently been recognized as attractive candidates for wastewater treatment. However, further improving their performance will require knowledge of how to precisely regulate their electronic structures via compositional control. Here, two Fe-based MGs (Fe78Si9B13 and Fe80Si9B11) were prepared to compare how slightly altering boron content affected their electronic structure and catalytic performance. Density functional theory revealed that the Fe78Si9B13 MG with 2 atom % higher boron exhibits an attractive electron delocalization, a high persulfate adsorption energy, and a superb work function due to precise regulation of the electronic structure, leading to exceptional degradation performance for seven organic pollutants. Furthermore, it can be reused 23 times without significant deterioration of catalytic performance, amorphous structure, and surface morphology. This work provides a new paradigm for the fundamental theory explaining how electronic structure is controlled by composition, creating a solid foundation to explore novel catalysts for water treatment.

RAS ID

32277

Document Type

Journal Article

Date of Publication

2020

Funding Information

Australian Research Council Natural Science Foundation of China Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai

School

School of Engineering

Grant Number

ARC Number : DP180101393

Grant Link

http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP180101393

Copyright

subscription content

Publisher

ACS Publications

Comments

Jia, Z., Jiang, J. L., Sun, L., Zhang, L. C., Wang, Q., Liang, S. X., ... Kruzic, J. J. (2020). Role of boron in enhancing electron delocalization to improve catalytic activity of fe-based metallic glasses for persulfate-based advanced oxidation. ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12, 44789-44797. https://doi.org/10.1021/acsami.0c13324

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Link to publisher version (DOI)

10.1021/acsami.0c13324