As an emerging contaminant, perchlorate has been detected in groundwater, surface water, soil and food worldwide. Perchlorate has good solubility and chemical stability, thus its degradation in water is challenging. Chitosan-stabilized nano Zero-valent Iron (CS-nZVI) was synthesized and tested to degrade perchlorate in water. Chitosan could improve the dispersive property of nZVI, and thus improve its reactivity. Compared with ZVI and nZVI, CS-nZVI exhibited better and faster removal of perchlorate. CS-nZVI exhibited excellent degradation of perchlorate, especially in high-concentration (similar to 200 mg L-1) perchlorate polluted water. The initial solution pH (3-11) and salinity (0.1-30 g L-1) of the solution did not have a significant influence on perchlorate degradation by CS-nZVI after 8 h reaction. Increasing the temperature could enhance the removal efficiency of perchlorate, and the removal rate reached to 96.1% at 92 degrees C with the initial perchlorate of 10 mg L-1. A low activation energy (E-a) of 41.55 +/- 1.93 kJ mol(-1) in the reaction was observed, which was lower than that in other relevant studies. The degradation of per chlorate by CS-nZVI was completed by the interaction of initial adsorption and subsequent reduction. After 8 h reaction, most of the perchlorate (>73%) was completely reduced to chloride with very little byproduct at relatively high reaction temperatures (>85 degrees C). Therefore, this research provides an effective method for perchlorate degradation in contaminated water with high concentrations or high salinity. (C) 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.