Fe-doped MnO2 as an efficient catalyst for low temperature propane oxidation

Manganese oxides were received extensive attention on account of its low cost, variable valence state and excellent redox properties. Herein, we successfully prepared various Fe-doped MnO2 catalysts to further improve the catalytic activity of MnO2 on propane. Physicochemical characterization results displayed that with the increase of Fe doping amounts, the crystalline phase of MnO2 gradually changed from α-MnO2 and β-MnO2 to Fe2O3, the particle size of catalysts decreased and the specific surface area increased. However, increasing the content of Fe could not monotonically enhance the catalytic performance of catalysts on propane. When the molar ratio of Fe/Mn was 0.25, the largest amount of Mn4+ species and lattice oxygen species were exposed on the surface of Mn8Fe2, and showed the best low temperature reducibility, which was ascribed to the synergistic effect between Mn and Fe was enhanced. It presented optimal catalytic activity for propane oxidation with temperature of propane conversion at 90% (T90) as low as 279 °C under 0.1% propane and 5% O2. This work provided a new way to design and synthesize efficient non-noble metal catalysts for the elimination of propane, which had certain application value.