Engineering active sites by boron modification in MnSiB metallic glasses for efficient catalytic performance

Recent advances indicate that metallic glass (MG) catalysts with large-scale production capability and robust reusability have made encouraging progresses in the wastewater treatment. The strategy to engineer active sites of MGs due to the nature of low surface area of ribbons, however, is still quite limited. Herein, we developed MnSiB MG catalysts and modulated the B content to engineer the surface active sites. Among the series of MnSiB MGs, Mn73Si16B11 MG ribbons present the optimized catalytic ability, showing a complete degradation of five organic dyes within 30 min and an extremely low activation energy of 11.5 kJ mol-1. The surface characteristics indicate that active Mn0 sites enriched at the band-shaped area dominate the catalytic efficiency, and an exchange of surface Mn0 with H+ to produce active [H] leads to the efficient decomposition of dye molecules. In addition, a surface renewing behavior originating from the B hydr(oxides) at moderate B composition in the MnSiB11 MG ribbons contributes to the strong reusability during dye degradation. This work sheds light on the role of B in modifying MG surface activity which is capable of designing efficient and green catalysts.