Selective laser melting manufactured porous Fe-based metallic glass matrix composite with remarkable catalytic activity and reusability

Abstract The ever-increasing environmental consciousness has stimulated new design of catalysts to meet environmental requirements due to rapid expansion of industrialization. Additive manufacturing now emerges as a novel technology that revolutionizes the way of material manufacturing with functional applications. Herein, the manufacturing of an Fe-based metallic glass (MG) matrix composite with three-dimensional rhombic dodecahedron microstructure by selective laser melting (SLM) is reported. The SLM-produced porous Fe-based MG matrix composite has been employed into catalytic activation in Fenton-like process and sulfate radical-based reaction. Results demonstrate that up to 45 times reusability is achieved in sulfate radical-based reaction without any apparent efficiency decay, which is the highest reusability with high efficiency by catalysts as of now. The remarkable catalytic reusability originates from extremely low surface decay in sulfate radical-based reaction. In addition, structural analysis indicates the α-Fe nanocrystals could trigger easy electron transfer but a large amount of α-Fe lead to an inhibitive catalytic effect in the MG matrix composite. The overall catalytic ability also demonstrates the excellent catalytic performance of SLM-produced porous Fe-based MG matrix composite in the wastewater remediation. This work suggests a novel SLM-produced catalyst with promising industrial potential and value.