Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers

Jiajia Si; Hengwei Luan; Hongjunfei Liu; Yang Shao; Guangqing Xu; Jun Lv; Jian Lu; Ying Li; Kefu Yao

doi:10.1038/s41467-026-71713-4

Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers

Jiajia Si^* (Co-first Author)
, Hengwei Luan (Co-first Author)
, Hongjunfei Liu
, Yang Shao
, Guangqing Xu^*
, Jun Lv
, Jian Lu^*
, Ying Li
, Kefu Yao^*

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

2 Downloads (CityUHK Scholars)

Abstract

Ubiquitous oxygen drives degradation, spoilage, and side reactions, making oxygen scavenging essential for materials preservation and reaction stabilization. However, conventional oxygen scavengers exhibit limited oxygen removal rates and capacities far below their theoretical maximums, wasting resources while lagging behind industry needs. Here, we report Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers, achieving oxygen removal rates 1–4 orders of magnitude higher than conventional systems. In FeSiB metallic glass, Fe oxidation synergistically activates Si, delivering a 24-hour oxygen removal capacity of 1.439 L g^-1—reaching the Fe-based theoretical limit—and a 48-hour capacity of 1.596 L g^-1, surpassing it. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the amorphous structure significantly lowers the oxygen adsorption energy barrier and facilitates O–O bond cleavage. Moreover, the generated self-reinforcing microdomains mediate O₂/H₂O transport via robust autocatalytic cycling. These results highlight a promising strategy for oxygen potential control and suggest a possible paradigm for catalytic applications. © The Author(s) 2026.

Original language	English
Article number	5128
Number of pages	11
Journal	Nature Communications
Volume	17
Online published	13 Apr 2026
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-026-71713-4
Publication status	Published - 2026

Funding

We acknowledge the financial support from National Natural Science Foundation of China (No. 52271148), National Natural Science Foundation of China/Hong Kong Research Grants Council Joint Research Scheme (Project No. N_CityU151/23), Hong Kong JLFS-RGC-Joint Laboratory Funding Scheme (No. JLFS/E-102/24), Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) (No. ITS/059/23MS), Guangdong Province Science and Technology Plan Project (No. 2023B1212120008). We thank Dr. Yang Chen from Peking University for his suggestion on simulation method, and thank Shiyanjia Lab (www.shiyanjia.com) for the DFT calculation service. J. Lu thanks the IMR-CityU Joint Laboratory of Nanomaterials & Nanomechanics and Guangdong-Hong Kong Joint Laboratory of Modern Surface Engineering Technology.

Publisher's Copyright Statement

This full text is made available under CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

RGC Funding Information

RGC-funded

Access Output

10.1038/s41467-026-71713-4

494601598.pdfFinal Published version, 3.03 MBLicence: CC BY-NC-ND

Other Access Options

Check CityUHK Library

Permanent Link

Right click to copy link

Cite this

@article{1aa0a4983e4147c5ba97d56a7587c2f9,

title = "Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers",

abstract = "Ubiquitous oxygen drives degradation, spoilage, and side reactions, making oxygen scavenging essential for materials preservation and reaction stabilization. However, conventional oxygen scavengers exhibit limited oxygen removal rates and capacities far below their theoretical maximums, wasting resources while lagging behind industry needs. Here, we report Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers, achieving oxygen removal rates 1–4 orders of magnitude higher than conventional systems. In FeSiB metallic glass, Fe oxidation synergistically activates Si, delivering a 24-hour oxygen removal capacity of 1.439 L g-1—reaching the Fe-based theoretical limit—and a 48-hour capacity of 1.596 L g-1, surpassing it. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the amorphous structure significantly lowers the oxygen adsorption energy barrier and facilitates O–O bond cleavage. Moreover, the generated self-reinforcing microdomains mediate O2/H2O transport via robust autocatalytic cycling. These results highlight a promising strategy for oxygen potential control and suggest a possible paradigm for catalytic applications. {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2026.",

author = "Jiajia Si and Hengwei Luan and Hongjunfei Liu and Yang Shao and Guangqing Xu and Jun Lv and Jian Lu and Ying Li and Kefu Yao",

year = "2026",

doi = "10.1038/s41467-026-71713-4",

language = "English",

volume = "17",

journal = "Nature Communications",

issn = "2041-1723",

publisher = "Springer Nature",

}

TY - JOUR

T1 - Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers

AU - Si, Jiajia

AU - Luan, Hengwei

AU - Liu, Hongjunfei

AU - Shao, Yang

AU - Xu, Guangqing

AU - Lv, Jun

AU - Lu, Jian

AU - Li, Ying

AU - Yao, Kefu

PY - 2026

Y1 - 2026

N2 - Ubiquitous oxygen drives degradation, spoilage, and side reactions, making oxygen scavenging essential for materials preservation and reaction stabilization. However, conventional oxygen scavengers exhibit limited oxygen removal rates and capacities far below their theoretical maximums, wasting resources while lagging behind industry needs. Here, we report Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers, achieving oxygen removal rates 1–4 orders of magnitude higher than conventional systems. In FeSiB metallic glass, Fe oxidation synergistically activates Si, delivering a 24-hour oxygen removal capacity of 1.439 L g-1—reaching the Fe-based theoretical limit—and a 48-hour capacity of 1.596 L g-1, surpassing it. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the amorphous structure significantly lowers the oxygen adsorption energy barrier and facilitates O–O bond cleavage. Moreover, the generated self-reinforcing microdomains mediate O2/H2O transport via robust autocatalytic cycling. These results highlight a promising strategy for oxygen potential control and suggest a possible paradigm for catalytic applications. © The Author(s) 2026.

AB - Ubiquitous oxygen drives degradation, spoilage, and side reactions, making oxygen scavenging essential for materials preservation and reaction stabilization. However, conventional oxygen scavengers exhibit limited oxygen removal rates and capacities far below their theoretical maximums, wasting resources while lagging behind industry needs. Here, we report Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers, achieving oxygen removal rates 1–4 orders of magnitude higher than conventional systems. In FeSiB metallic glass, Fe oxidation synergistically activates Si, delivering a 24-hour oxygen removal capacity of 1.439 L g-1—reaching the Fe-based theoretical limit—and a 48-hour capacity of 1.596 L g-1, surpassing it. Density functional theory calculations reveal that the amorphous structure significantly lowers the oxygen adsorption energy barrier and facilitates O–O bond cleavage. Moreover, the generated self-reinforcing microdomains mediate O2/H2O transport via robust autocatalytic cycling. These results highlight a promising strategy for oxygen potential control and suggest a possible paradigm for catalytic applications. © The Author(s) 2026.

UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=105041186765&partnerID=8YFLogxK

UR - https://www.scopus.com/record/pubmetrics.uri?eid=2-s2.0-105041186765&origin=recordpage

U2 - 10.1038/s41467-026-71713-4

DO - 10.1038/s41467-026-71713-4

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

C2 - 41974721

SN - 2041-1723

VL - 17

JO - Nature Communications

JF - Nature Communications

M1 - 5128

ER -

Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers

Abstract

Funding

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

ITF: Super-Nano Turing Catalysts Integrated Into High-Performance Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer For Large-Scale And Low-Cost Hydrogen Production

JLFS: IMR-CityU Joint Laboratory of Nanomaterials & Nanomechanics

NSFC: Bulk Complex Concentrated Alloys Based on Grain Boundary Complexion Engineering and Study of Their Toughening Mechanisms

Cite this

Fe-based metallic glasses as efficient oxygen scavengers

Abstract

Funding

Publisher's Copyright Statement

RGC Funding Information

Access Output

Other Access Options

Permanent Link

Other Files and Links

Fingerprint

Projects

ITF: Super-Nano Turing Catalysts Integrated Into High-Performance Anion Exchange Membrane Water Electrolyzer For Large-Scale And Low-Cost Hydrogen Production

JLFS: IMR-CityU Joint Laboratory of Nanomaterials & Nanomechanics

NSFC: Bulk Complex Concentrated Alloys Based on Grain Boundary Complexion Engineering and Study of Their Toughening Mechanisms

Cite this