α-MnO2 catalysts for complete oxidation of isopropanol: Effect of synthesis method

Abstract

This study investigates the effect of synthesis methods on the physicochemical properties and catalytic activity of α-MnO2 catalysts in the complete oxidation of isopropanol. The catalysts were synthesized via redox-precipitation reactions by using dropwise and reflux methods and characterized by XRD, SEM, and N2 adsorption-desorption. The results show that the synthesis methods significantly effect on the properties and catalytic activity of α-MnO2 catalysts. The dropwise method facilitates the formation of α-MnO2 nanofibers with lower crystallite size (12 nm), higher surface area (68 m2/g), and pore volume (0.16 cm3/g), which enhance the complete oxidation performance in comparison with α-MnO2 nanorods synthesized by the reflux method. Over α-MnO2 nanofibers, the T50(CO2) and T90(CO2) temperatures, at which 50% and 90% of isopropanol are converted to CO2, were found to be 155 °C and 166 °C, respectively.