Well-dispersed small-sized MnOx nanoparticles and porous carbon composites for effective methylene blue degradation

Abstract

We report here the fabrication of MnOx nanoparticles and porous carbon composite via a solution synthesis route followed by carbonization. Poly (acrylic acid) stabilized ultra-small MnO2 nanoparticles (around 1.0 nm) are first produced and then in situ incorporated into the RF resin matrix. The as-prepared composites are carbonized at 500 °C in N2 atmosphere, during which the MnO2 are reduced to Mn3O4 and MnO (denoted as MnOx), which are more active in heterogeneous Fenton catalysis. Thanks to the small sized Mn source we used, under the optimized synthesis condition, the average size of the MnOx particles is only 2.9 nm. Moreover, the MnOx particles are homogeneously dispersed in the carbon matrix and the BET surface area of the composite is as large as 227.7 m3 g−1, which shows superior catalytic performance toward methylene blue degradation.