Functional 3D nanoporous Fe-based alloy from metallic glass for high-efficiency water splitting and wastewater treatment

Abstract Fe-based alloys with 3D nanoporous structures (np-Fe) are promising catalysts in various fields. In this study, np-Fe is easily fabricated using Fe-based metallic glass (Fe-MG) ribbons to prepare Fe-based nanocrystalline alloys as precursors after chemical dealloying in an HCl solution. The potential applications of np-Fe in energy conversion and environmental remediation are highlighted by oxygen evolution reaction (OER) and dyeing wastewater treatment of an np-Fe800-12h. The results show that np-Fe has excellent OER performance with an overpotential of 230 mV at a current density of 10 mA cm−2. Moreover, np-Fe exhibits superior degradation capability toward azo dye pollutants and shows improved performance than even its nanocrystalline precursor and Fe-MG. This study thus paves a new avenue for fabricating the desired np-Fe as high-performance catalysts for energy conversion and wastewater treatment applications.