FeCoNiMnCuTi high entropy amorphous alloys and M50Ti50 (M = Fe, Cu, FeCoNiMnCu) amorphous alloys: Novel and efficient catalysts for heterogeneous photo-Fenton decomposition of Rhodamine B

Traditional Fe based amorphous alloys (Fe-Si-B system) with good Fenton-like performance have attracted great attention in dye wastewater decomposition. However, their relative low catalytic stability, narrow pH working range and expensive constituent elements impede the corresponding application. In addition, discovering new application of high entropy alloys in catalytic degradation besides decolorization of azo dyes has already been a scientific research hotspot. Consequently, in this work, M50Ti50 (M = Fe, Ni, Cu, FeCoNiMnCu) amorphous alloys, FeCoNiMn high entropy alloys and FeCoNiMnCuTi high entropy amorphous alloys were prepared by one-step ball milling method and then used as Fenton-like catalysts. The average particle sizes of the prepared Fe50Ti50, Ni50Ti50, Cu50Ti50, (FeCoNiMnCu)50Ti50, FeCoNiMn and FeCoNiMnCuTi were measured to be 22.3, 27.8, 26.5, 17.1, 15.4 and 19.5 μm, respectively. Among them, Fe50Ti50, Cu50Ti50, (FeCoNiMnCu)50Ti50 and FeCoNiMnCuTi exhibited superior photo-Fenton performances: 4 min UV decomposition rates of RhB solution are up to 82.77%, 85.96%, 75.23% and 88.19%, respectively, which would be the promising Fenton-like catalysts for industrial dye wastewater treatment. In particular, this is the first report on dye degradation behavior of equiatomic high entropy amorphous alloys and Cu based amorphous alloys were firstly developed to be a photo-Fenton catalyst.