A highly dispersed Pt/copper modified-MnO2 catalyst for the complete oxidation of volatile organic compounds: The effect of oxygen species on the catalytic mechanism

Manganese oxide (MnO2) exhibits excellent activity for volatile organic compound oxidation. However, it is currently unknown whether lattice oxygen or adsorbed oxygen is more conducive to the progress of the catalytic reaction. In this study, novel hollow highly dispersed Pt/Copper modified-MnO2 catalysts were fabricated. Cu2+ was stabilized into the δ-MnO2 cladding substituting original K+, which produced lattice defects and enhance the content of adsorbed oxygen. The 2.03 wt% Pt Cu0.050-MnO2 catalyst exhibited the highest catalytic activity and excellent stability for toluene and benzene oxidation, with T100 = 160 °C under high space velocity (36,000 mL g−1 h−1). The excellent performance of catalytic oxidation of VOCs is attributed to the abundant adsorbed oxygen content, excellent low-temperature reducibility and the synergistic catalytic effect between the Pt nanoparticles and Cu0.050-MnO2. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of the Langmuir–Hinshelwood (L-H) mechanism occurring on the catalysts.