Metallic glasses (MGs) with a unique atomic structure have been widely used in the catalytic degradation of organic pollutants in the recent years. Fe₇₈Si₉B₁₃ MGs exhibited excellent catalytic performance for the degradation of oily wastewater in a Fenton-like system for the first time. The oil removal and chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal from the oily wastewater were 72.67% and 70.18% within 60 min, respectively. Quenching experiments were performed to verify the production of active hydroxyl radicals (·OH) by activating hydrogen peroxide (H₂O₂). The formation of ·OH species can significantly contribute to the degradation reaction of oily wastewater. Fe₇₈Si₉B₁₃ MG ribbons were highly efficient materials that exhibited superior reactivity towards H₂O₂ activation in oily wastewater treatment. The study revealed the catalytic capability of metallic glasses, presenting extensive prospects of their applications in oily wastewater treatment.

Metal catalyst leaching from particle electrodes affects efficiency of three-dimensional electrochemical systems. In this study, FeNi-PAC/PANI particle electrodes with exceptional stability was prepared using in-situ polymerization and used to treat biochemical effluent from coking wastewater. Characterization with scanning electron microscopy-energy dispersive spectroscopy (SEM-EDS), Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR), X-ray diffraction (XRD) and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) indicated that metals were present as Fe0, Ni0 and ions, and confirmed formation of metal nitrides. At current density of 10 mA·cm-2, overpotentials for hydrogen and oxygen evolution of FeNi-PAC/PANI were -0.95 V and 2.82 V, respectively, with charge transfer resistance of 9.53 × 10⁻⁷ Ω and electrochemical surface area (ECSA) of 32.7 cm². Compared with FeNi-PAC, FeNi-PAC/PANI was more stable, with only 0.074 mg·L-1 and 0.05 mg·L-1 of Fe and Ni leaching, respectively. Under 0.2 A, pH = 7.0, and 7 mL·min-1, the COD removal rate reached 84.1%. Radical quenching and electron spin resonance (ESR) confirmed that PANI facilitates the synergistic degradation of pollutants by •OH and H*, with exposure levels reaching 1.05×10⁻¹⁰ M·s and 4.53×10⁻⁷ M·s, respectively. Product analysis and DFT calculations revealed that the 16 pollutants were readily attacked by reactive species, forming simple alkenes and monocyclic aromatic compounds.