Effective removal of methylene blue using nanoscale manganese oxide rods and spheres derived from different precursors of manganese

Abstract

Nanoscale manganese oxide with different morphologies were developed at room temperature using different precursor salts (potassium permanganate and manganese sulfate). The obtained nanoscale morphologies, i.e., rod and sphere-shaped were characterized using BET surface area analyzer, SEM, TEM, and XRD. The manganese oxide possessed the rod and sphere-like morphologies with different pore structures. The adsorption of methylene blue on mesoporous manganese oxide followed the pseudo-second-order kinetics and best fitted with the Freundlich adsorption isotherm model with a removal capacity of 2914 mg g−1. The effect of irradiation time on degradation efficiency was also examined, which followed the first-order kinetics with a degradation efficiency of 93.12%. Furthermore, the recycling studies revealed that the spherical manganese oxide retained over 90% of the photodegradation efficiency after three cycles of methylene blue degradation, which proves its stability for practical applications. Therefore, mesoporous manganese oxide with significant adsorption and remarkable photodegradation capability can provide a way forward to fine-tune the material's properties for effective environmental remediation.