Design and synthesis of CeO2 nanowire/MnO2 nanosheet heterogeneous structure for enhanced catalytic properties

Abstract

A novel CeO2 nanowires/MnO2 nanosheets heterogeneous structure was successfully synthesized by a facile hydrothermal method and its carbon monoxide (CO) catalytic properties were studied. Amorphous MnO2 nanosheets were firstly formed on the surface of CeO2 nanowires to establish a core-shell structure mediated by interfacial redox process which was further transformed to δ-MnO2 through post heat treatment. Compared with as-prepared CeO2 nanowires, CeO2 nanowires/MnO2 nanosheets heterogeneous architecture showed improved catalytic performance because of the strong synergistic interaction between CeO2 and MnO2 at the interface. Moreover, the formation of δ-MnO2 further enhanced the catalytic properties by achieving more defective structures through a slight Mn doping. The catalytic activities can be further enhanced by core-shell compositional optimization. Thus, designing heterogeneous junction was an attractive approach for improving the catalytic properties of CeO2 based nanomaterials.