Solvent-induced fabrication of Cu/MnOx nanosheets with abundant oxygen vacancies for efficient and long-lasting photothermal catalytic degradation of humid toluene vapor

Construction of highly-active photothermal catalysts featuring merits of high quantum efficiency and superior heat resistance is a great challenge during volatile organic compounds (VOCs) degradation under high humidity. Herein, a facile solvent-induced dimensionality reduction strategy was proposed to engineer a nanosheeted and polycrystalline Cu/Mn-based catalyst (M-Cu/MnOx) having interfacial oxygen vacancies for enhanced photo-thermal catalytic degradation of toluene under highly humid conditions. Unique Cu-mediated δ-MnO2/Mn3O4 nanosheets with high surface area exhibited excellent light absorptivity and photogenerated carrier separation efficiency, as well as superior light-driven thermogenesis. It realized ultra-high (92.8%) toluene conversion and deep mineralization (84.4%) under RH = 80% and continuous catalytic reaction (200 h). Its toluene degradation rate exhibited 3.5–71.9 times higher than reported state-of-the-art photothermal catalysts. The newly designed M-Cu/MnOx catalyst provides a promising, low-cost and alternative for the efficient degradation of toluene and other similar VOCs under humid conditions on large-scale operations.