In this study, we demonstrate that the combination of ascorbic acid and Fe@Fe2O3 core -shell nanowires (AA/Fe@Fe2O3) offers a highly efficient Fenton reagent. This combined Fenton reagent exhibited extremely high activity on the decomposition of H2O2 to produce center dot OH for the degradation of various organic contaminants, including rhodamine B, methylene blue, alachlor, atrazine, siduron, lincomycin, and chloroamphenicol. The contaminant degradation constants in the AA/Fe@Fe2O3/H2O2 Fenton systems were 38-53 times higher than those in the conventional homogeneous Fenton system (Fe(II)/H2O2) at pH 3.8. Moreover, the center dot OH generation rate constant in the AA/Fe@Fe2O3/H2O2 Fenton system was 1-3 orders of magnitudes greater than those of heterogeneous Fenton systems developed with other iron -containing materials (alpha-FeOOH, alpha-Fe2O3, FeOCl, and so on). The high activity of AA/Fe@Fe2O3 was attributed to the effective Fe(III)/Fe(II) cycle and the iron-ascorbate complex formation to stabilize ferrous ions with desirable and steady concentrations. During the AA/Fe@Fe2O3/H2O2 Fenton process, ascorbic acid served as a reducing and complexing reagent, enabling the reuse of Fe@Fe2O3 nanowires. We systematically investigated the alachlor and ascorbic acid degradation and found that they could be (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.