Degradation of methyl orange by an ultrasonic Fenton-like process with Fe-based amorphous alloy powders

Fe-based amorphous alloys (FAAs) are considered a new type of wastewater treatment catalyst. In this study, the degradation performance of Fe-Nb-Cu-Si-B amorphous alloy powders for methyl orange (MO) in an ultrasonic Fenton-like process was studied. The effects of pH, H2O2, catalyst dosage, temperature, dye concentration, and ultrasound on the degradation efficiency were studied. At pH 0, the dye solution with the MO concentration of 25 mg L-1 could be completely decolorized by 0.07 g FAA powders within 3 min and the reaction rate k was 0.864 min(-1). In addition, FAA powders could be recycled 11 times, and the powders after 11 cycles remained amorphous. EPR experiments proved that OH and O-2(-) were the main reactive radicals. The successful use of the amorphous alloy in the ultrasonic Fenton-like reaction for the first time suggests its potential application as a promising new method for the degradation of azo dyes.

Automated summary

The degradation performance of Fe-Nb-Cu-Si-B amorphous alloy powders for methyl orange in an ultrasonic Fenton-like process was studied. The effects of pH, H2O2, catalyst dosage, temperature, dye concentration, and ultrasound on the degradation efficiency were investigated. The results show that the amorphous alloy has potential application in the degradation of azo dyes.