Improved degradation capability of Fe81B10C9 amorphous ribbon with the nanoscale layer rich of small atoms (B, C)

A nanoscale layer rich of small atoms (B and/or C) near the surface in the Fe81B10C9 amorphous ribbon was obtained by annealing the melt-spun ribbon at 523K. And the nanoscale chemical inhomogeneous layer was verified from the cross-section of the ribbon through the surface to the center by EPMA and TEM. The existence of the rich small atoms layer can satisfy the higher degradation capability for both electron transfer acceleration and easier contaminant removal on degrading methylene blue solutions in Fenton-like system. The higher degradation efficiency has been attributed to the galvanic cell structure formed between this nanoscale small atom rich layer and the amorphous base. This work provides a novel approach to obtain chemical inhomogeneity to enhance the degradation efficiency.