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

[Display omitted] •Newly designed MnSiB metallic glasses are prepared for wastewater treatment.•Band-shaped SiO2/HBOx layer represents the surface active sites.•Boron regulation dominates the active site construction of MnSiB metallic glasses.•“Active” Mn0 facilitates the production of [H] for effective dye degradation. 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 for the first time and modulated the B content to investigate and engineer the surface active sites. Among the series of MnSiB MGs, Mn73Si16B11 MG ribbons present 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 surface band-shaped area dominate the catalytic efficiency, an exchange of surface Mn0 and 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 ribbon 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.