Excellent capability in remediating Cu2+ from aqueous solution by Fe-Si-B amorphous alloys

Fe-Si-B amorphous alloy ribbons (Fe-Si-B-AR) are widely investigated recently due to its high efficiency in remediation of wastewater containing azo dyes and other organic pollutants. In this paper, the effects of Fe-Si-B-AR on the remediation of water containing high levels of Cu2+ ions were discussed. Results show that the reaction mechanism of Fe-Si-B-AR with Cu2+ ions solution is the same as iron powders (Fe-CP). But the reaction efficiency of Fe-Si-B-AR is about 167 and 34 times than that of Fe-CP for the Cu2+ ions solution of 100 mg/L and 500 mg/L, respectively. Furthermore, the apparent reaction activation energy is calculated to be 18.7 and 19.4 kJ/mol for Fe-Si-B-AR and Fe-CP, indicating that both the reactions of Fe-Si-B-AR and Fe-CP are diffusion-controlled process. Microstructure investigations shown that loose product layer on the surface of the Fe-Si-B-AR contribute to the high efficiency of Fe-Si-B-AR in remediation of heavy metal-polluted water.