Fe-based metallic glass: An efficient and energy-saving electrode material for electrocatalytic degradation of water contaminants

Excessive consumption of electrical energy has hampered the widespread application of electrochemical technology for degradation of various contaminants. In this paper, a Fe-based metallic glass (MG) was demonstrated as a new type of electrocatalyst to effectively and economically degrade an azo dye. In comparison to other typical electrodes, Fe-based MG electrodes exhibit a minimized degradation time, and the specific energy is 4-6 orders of magnitude lower than that of dimensionally stable anode (DSA), metal-like boron-doped diamond (BDD) and other electrodes. As sacrificial electrode materials, Fe-based MGs have less specific electrode mass consumption than iron electrodes. The use of Fe-based MGs will promote the practical application of electrochemical technology and the use of MGs as functional materials.