Facile construction and enhanced catalytic activity of Co-Mn oxide with rich amorphous/crystalline interfaces for propane oxidation

Cobalt-manganese (Co-Mn) composite oxides show high potential for the catalytic oxidation of volatile organic compounds (VOCs). However, the low defect content and poor oxygen mobility of perfect spinel structure crystalline always make it difficult to effectively activate C–H bonds of propane. Here, the catalyst with rich amorphous MnOx/crystalline Co3O4 interfaces was prepared, and the catalytic combustion activity for propane was determined. The rich amorphous/crystalline interfaces CMO-400 (i.e. Co-Mn oxide calcined at 400 °C) catalyst exhibited the best catalytic activity for propane with T90 of 200 °C among all bimetallic Co-Mn oxides. Various characterizations and corresponding results have demonstrated that the abundant amorphous/crystalline interfaces could improve the catalytic performances, attributed to high oxygen vacancy concentration, low temperature reducibility, weak Mn − O bond strength, and good surface lattice oxygen mobility. It is noteworthy that the interface engineering of amorphous/crystalline is an effective strategy in VOCs catalytic oxidation.